This is the sixteenth time the Londoners have reached the last four of a European competition, winning seven up to now – and four of the past five including the victorious 2020/21 Champions League campaign.

Tonight’s venue is located in Johanneshov, southern Stockholm, and is shared with Hammarby. Its artificial surface also hosts music events – so Enzo Maresca’s side will be the first English attraction there since Elton John in 2023.

Local interest is at fever pitch for Chelsea’s sixth competitive match in Sweden (including the 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup final), as the country is home to legions of Blues supporters.

Djurgården, whose name translates as Animal Farm, had their planned weekend match postponed by the Allsvenskan.

As a result they are 11th of 16 in the league table after a late own-goal winner against Oster last Thursday – they have scored only once themselves in the opening five games.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Maresca’s side gained a massive three points from Everton’s visit to Stamford Bridge, which will stage the decisive leg of this UEFA tie next Thursday.

The Blues have never lost to a Swedish side and have won five Conference League away matches in a row this season by an aggregate of 14-3, scoring two or more goals in each.

A sixth European victory in succession would equal Chelsea’s club record set in 2003/04, ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League visit on Sunday.

How they reached the semi-finals

Chelsea-Djurgården – the history

Djurgården’s only previous English opponents were Manchester United in the 1964/64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup – a tie they lost 7-2 on aggregate.

Chelsea have never faced the hosts in a competitive setting and this is our first return to Stockholm since Gianfranco Zola smashed in the winner against Stuttgart in the 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup final.

Coincidentally, on the same 1936 friendly tour where Chelsea became the first English club to play in Poland we previously beat AIK 6-0 at Djurgården’s then home ground, Olympiastadion.

A more frustrating link came in 1955 when the Blues were invited to take part in a groundbreaking new UEFA competition, the European Cup. The English league champions had attended the planning meetings and club secretary John Battersby was elected to the steering committee.

The first round of matches had already been scheduled by the time the Football League intervened on the grounds of ‘fixture congestion’. The league could not ban the Blues from contesting the tournament but, remarkably, managed to persuade chair Joe Mears to turn down the history-making offer.

The club Ted Drake’s men would have faced in the opening round 70 years ago was today’s hosts, Djurgården. This is the first time the two teams have been matched since then.

Chelsea are unbeaten in eight previous meetings with Swedish clubs, recording five wins, three draws, 12 goals scored and two conceded.

Infamously, two of those draws, against Atvidaberg in round two of 1971/72, were enough to eliminate the Cup Winners’ Cup holders on the away goals rule.

Conference League knockout stage regulations

As Chelsea and Tottenham both progressed to the last four of their respective UEFA competitions, the order of the Blues’ fixtures was reversed and the second leg will be played at Stamford Bridge.

The ‘away goals’ rule has not applied to UEFA competitions since 2021. In the event of a draw after 90 minutes next Thursday the teams will play extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out.

The last European tie decided by penalty kicks involving Chelsea was the 2019 Europa League quarter-final second leg at the Bridge against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The teams emerged from extra-time tied at 2-2 but despite César Azpilicueta being first to miss the Blues reached the final – thanks to twin saves by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Video Assistant Referee system is used in this competition and all yellow cards that have not already led to a suspension were wiped after the quarter-finals.

The winners of this competition qualify for the league stage of the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League.

Know this…

Chelsea top the Conference League statistics for goals (33), possession (62.9 per cent), passing accuracy (92.3 per cent), and shots on target (87).

Jadon Sancho set up three goals over the two quarter-final matches in this competition.

Djurgården right-back Theo Bergvall is the older brother of Spurs’ Lucas Bergvall.

The Londoners have the youngest starting eleven among the semi-finalists (23 years, 284 days) and Djurgården the oldest (27 years, 330 days).

Three of the five teams who have committed the most fouls in this season’s Conference League – Betis (146), Djurgården (140) and Fiorentina (137) – are in the semi-finals. Chelsea have been penalised just 88 times.

Chelsea’s UEFA coefficient ranking is 9 and Djurgården’s 63.

The host city of the Conference League final on 28 May, Wroclaw, is pronounced ‘Vrotslav’.

Pacy, prolific Sixties striker Barry Bridges was born on this day in 1941. Between 1959 and 1966 he netted 93 goals in 203 appearances for Chelsea.

Westview tickets for the home leg of this UEFA Conference League semi-final are on sale for £60pp, available exclusively to CFC Members. Hospitality packages are available on general sale here, starting from £160pp.