Enzo's Chelsea suffer heavy defeat, could miss 2027 Champions League | OneFootball

Chelsea suffered an unexpected blow. Against a Nottingham Forest side more focused on the Europa League semifinals than the Premier League, they fell to a painful defeat (1-3) and are now left waiting for a miracle to qualify for the 2027 Champions League.

Without a manager, following the dismissal of Liam Rosenior, and with Callum McFarlane on the bench, the Blues forgot the brief joy of their FA Cup semifinal win and went back to the reality of a Premier League campaign in which they have not won since March 4.

Since then, they have suffered six straight defeats and need a miracle to play in the Champions League next season. Fifth place is now mathematically impossible, so they need Aston Villa to finish fifth and win the Europa League, which would mean sixth place earns a Champions League spot. More than complicated.

Without a manager, following the dismissal of Liam Rosenior, and with Callum McFarlane on the bench, the Blues forgot the brief joy of their FA Cup semifinal win and went back to the reality of a Premier League campaign in which they have not won since March 4.

Since then, they have suffered six straight defeats and need a miracle to play in the Champions League next season. Fifth place is now mathematically impossible, so they need Aston Villa to finish fifth and win the Europa League, which would mean sixth place earns a Champions League spot. More than complicated.

And yet the Blues had everything in their favor to win this Monday, a holiday in the United Kingdom. Forest, with the Europa League on their mind, rested many of their starters, but not even that helped.

After two minutes, Taiwo Awoniyi headed in a cross from Dilane Bakwa and made the game an uphill battle for the Stamford Bridge side, who made things even worse when Malo Gusto gave away an unnecessary penalty on Awoniyi by grabbing the Nigerian by the arm. After a VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot and Igor Jesus made no mistake, scoring his sixth goal of this Premier League campaign.

Right on the edge of halftime, the first dangerous moment of the match occurred. Zach Abbott and Jesse Derry collided inside the box, with a serious blow to the head. Chelsea’s 18-year-old had to be taken off on a stretcher, and Abbott was also substituted. The referee awarded a penalty and Palmer failed to convert it. Matz Sels guessed his intention and, in agonizing stoppage time, preserved the 0-2 scoreline going into the break.

In the second half, far from Chelsea mounting a comeback, Forest extended their lead through Awoniyi’s second goal, and Chelsea slumped to a defeat that leaves them in a very delicate position.

In addition, in the final half hour, Robert Sánchez and Morgan Gibbs-White suffered a clash of heads and both had to go off wearing heavy bandages around their heads.

In stoppage time, Joao Pedro pulled one back with an overhead kick that served little purpose beyond the highlight reel. The Blues remain ninth with 48 points, three behind seventh place, which earns a Conference League spot, with nine points still to play for, while Forest take a huge step toward survival and move up to sixteenth with 42 points, six more than West Ham United.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.