Chelsea are competing in European football’s third-tier competition for the first time in their history and bidding to become the first club to have won all three major European competitions — having previously won the Champions League and Europa League — as well as the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

Chelsea ’s win over Liverpool on Sunday boosted their Champions League hopes and may also have saved them from paying a sizeable transfer fee this summer. Enzo Maresca ’s side opened up a three-point gap on sixth-placed Nottingham Forest with a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge, one of their most impressive displays of the season.

Chelsea sentenced Liverpool to a defeat in the Reds' first game as Premier League champions, with the Blues strengthening their Champions League hopes in the process