Chelsea’s confirmed route to the Club World Cup final | OneFootball

Chelsea’s route to the FIFA Club World Cup final has been decided, following the conclusion of the tournament’s group stage.

Enzo Maresca’s side have qualified to the knockout stages after finishing second in Group D.

The Blues’ got off to a winning start in the competition, as they defeated Los Angeles FC 2-0 in their opening game. However, despite taking the lead against Flamengo, they succumbed to a 3-1 defeat in their next game.

This left Chelsea needing a result in their final group game or else they faced elimination. Maresca’s side got the job done, winning 3-0 against Esperance Tunis.

The Blues have advanced to the knockout stages and despite finishing second, they have perhaps been rewarded with a more favourable draw than they would have earned if they finished first.

Now that all the group games have finished, the brackets for the knockout stages have been finalised.

Chelsea will face Benfica in the round of 16 in Charlotte. It will be the first meeting between the two sides since Chelsea prevailed over the Portuguese club in the 2013 Europa League final. The English side have been victorious in all three previous meetings between the two teams.

If Maresca’s side had topped their group, they would be facing Bayern Munich instead of Benfica. Consequently, finishing second has probably worked out better for Chelsea.

Should the Blues defeat Benfica, they will face either Palmeiras or Botafogo in the quarter-finals. Maresca’s men have already learned first-hand the qualities that Brazilian teams possess in their loss to Flamengo. However, they would still go into the semi-finals as favourites.

Should Chelsea continue to progress, they could meet Premier League rivals Manchester City in the semi-finals. Their potential semi-final opponents are Inter Milan, Fluminense, Manchester City or Al-Hilal.

Chelsea’s side of the draw is perhaps the easier one on paper. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and PSG were amongst the pre-tournament favourites. However, the Blues cannot meet any of them until the final.