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Chelsea’s hopes of winning a trophy this season were boosted on Sunday, when they edged past Leeds United at Wembley in their FA Cup semi-final.
Enzo Fernandez’s first-half strike was enough to see off Daniel Farke’s side and book a spot in next month’s final, where the club will take on Manchester City.
With Chelsea struggling in the Premier League of late following a dour run of form that saw the club sack Liam Rosenior after just three months in charge, an FA Cup win also looks like the Blues’ best route into Europe.
Chelsea could face multi-club ownership issue
Chelsea begin the week sitting eighth in the table and out of the current European places, a point behind Bournemouth and well off the pace in the race for the Champions League spots.
An FA Cup win would mean qualification for the Europa League, but there is a potential roadblock ahead for the club.
That’s because Chelsea’s ownership group - BlueCo - also own French side Strasbourg, who are also targeting European qualification.
There have been clear links between the two sides this season, with Rosenior leaving the French team for Chelsea in December, while 11 players have also moved between the two sides.
Strasbourg sit eighth in the Ligue 1 table and are therefore unlikely to qualify for Europe domestically, but they play their Conference League semi-final first leg at Rayo Vallecano this week and know that victory in that competition brings with it a spot in next season’s Europa League.
Should both sides find themselves in the same European competition next season, then the UEFA administrators are likely to have a job on their hands as they will have to determine whether or not BlueCo have done enough to satisfy the governing body that the two clubs are not operating as a single entity.
Both sides have made changes in the boardroom, with four members of the board of BlueCo Alsace, the French club's holding company, stepping down in February.
But should this situation where both sides qualify for the Europa League arise, UEFA will need to make a decision, which could mean one of the sides is demoted to the Conference League, or potentially miss out on European competition.
A precedent here was set last year when Crystal Palace were put into the Conference League, despite winning last season’s FA Cup. Irish side Drogheda United, and Slovakian team FC DAC 1904 were also punished.
Other potential conflicts of interest may arise from the relationships between Everton and Roma, Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos, Brighton, Hearts and Union Sain-Gilloise, plus Leeds and Rangers.
