Welcome to the match 8 of 8 in the league phase of this year’s Champions League. Chelsea are assured of a top-24 finish and thus a place in the knockout rounds, but if we win today (and other results go in our favor as well), we can still finish in the top-8 and get to skip a round straight into the Round of 16.
That’s certainly worth making an effort for — two games less on the schedule — and accordingly, Liam Rosenior has chosen a very strong starting XI … though it’s not exactly clear what’s going on with that defense.
Antonio Conte has done similarly, as best as he could given their injury situation. They need a win just to avoid elimination.
Napoli starting XI:
Meret | Buongiorno, Juan Jesus, McTominay, Olivera, Hojlund, Elmas, Di Lorenz (c), Vergara, Spinazzola, Lobotka
Substitutes from: Contini, Spinelli, Gutierrez, Lukaku, Beukema, De Chiara, Garofalo
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1?):
Sánchez | Cucurella, Fofana, James (c), Gusto | Santos, Caicedo | Neto, Enzo, Estêvão | João Pedro
Substitutes from: Jorgensen, Merrick, Acheampong, Badiashile, Chalobah, Hato, Palmer, Gittens, Garnacho, George, Delap, Guiu
Date / Time: Wednesday, January 28, 2026, 20.00 GMT; 3pm EST; 1:30am IST (next day)
Venue: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (the San Paolo renamed after the legend himself in 2020)
Referee: Clément Turpin (on pitch); Jérôme Brisard (VAR)
On TV: TNT Sports 4 (UK); none (USA); none (India); SuperSport Football Plus (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: discovery+ (UK); Paramount+ (USA); Sony LIV (India); DStv Now
Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!
