CHELSEA face having to give up home advantage for their Champions League last 16 tie – because of a little-known Uefa rule.
Liam Rosenior enjoyed the best win of his reign so far with the 3-2 triumph over former Blues boss Antonio Conte’s Napoli.
The comeback triumph meant Chelsea finished in sixth place in the Champions League table, automatically qualifying for the last 16.
Under the revised competition rules, that would mean Chelsea playing the second leg of their next tie – likely to be against Newcastle or reigning champions PSG – at Stamford Bridge.
But Uefa regulations only allow for one game to be played in any city on a particular night.
With Arsenal and Spurs having finished first and fourth in the table, and only the Tuesday and Wednesday nights on March 17 and 18 being available, the North London sides take priority.
And it means Chelsea will have to get backing from the Metropolitan Police and other London authorities to persuade Uefa to rip up its own rulebook to be able to play the crunch game in SW6.
While Chelsea and Spurs regularly play home games in the Premier League on the same day, Uefa’s “general principle” for club competitions states that sides cannot play “in the same stadium, the same city or in cities within a radius of 50km (30 miles)”.
In the knockout stage, the regulations state that if there is a clash, which must be the case in March: “The national association and clubs are required in advance to identify and announce an alternative stadium where a match can be played in the given match week.
“In such a case, the team with the lower ranking in the league phase must play in the alternative venue.”
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Those regulations and the 30 mile rule would mean Chelsea having to play outside the capital, effectively turning the home leg into a neutral match.
Uefa adds: “Exceptionally however, in such a case, a team qualified to play the second leg of these rounds may decide, by informing the Uefa administration before the draw, to reverse the tie and play the first leg at home instead of playing the second leg in an alternative venue.”
One way round the problem would be for Chelsea’s second leg to remain at Stamford Bridge but switched to the Thursday night – although that would ruin TV schedules and clash with the Europa and Conference League ties and was described by senior figures as an “unlikely” option.
Uefa have held open the door for a potential compromise, with a spokesman saying: “Discussions on scheduling are ongoing with local authorities regarding city clashes for upcoming matches, including those to be played in March.”
But police chiefs may be wary of dealing with fans from Paris or the North East on the same night as resources are stretched in North London, with Spurs potentially playing Juventus or Atletico Madrid and Arsenal facing German, Italian or Greek opponents.
And it could mean Chelsea having to give away their hard-won second leg advantage to ensure they can play in front of their own fans on home soil.
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