Chelsea could give up their potential Champions League spot next season due to a bizarre UEFA ruling.
The Blues are one course to finish fifth in the Premier League this season, with two huge games against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest to come before the end of the current campaign.
But Enzo Maresca's men are also in the final of the Conference League and will face Real Betis later this month, with the winner yielding an automatic spot in the UEFA Europa League.
How Chelsea could SNUB a place in the Champions League for next season
It's been an up-and-down campaign for the Blues, who were at one point considered title contenders after a wonderful away win over Tottenham left them within touching distance of eventual winners Liverpool.
Despite their race for top spot eventually faltering, Maresca's side are into a European final and could even guarantee Champions League football before the kick a ball in the final against Betis, so why would they give it up?
The theory states that if Chelsea finish fifth in the Premier League table this season, they will have to go through a qualifying round to reach the Champions League group stage for the 2025/26 campaign.
There's little reason to suspect Chelsea will not pick a place in Europe's biggest competition, but winning the Conference League means automatic qualification to the Europa League group stage. No questions asked.
Failing to win their qualifying game in the Champions League does not mean they would fall into the Europa League, and therefore, they could still earn two spots into Europe this season and yet still, mathematically, not play any football in any European competition in 2025/26.
To add further potential misery, Ligue 1 side Strasbourg are on course to qualify for Europe too, with Liam Rosenior's side also owned by BlueCo.
As previously reported with Manchester United and Nice's situation, Strasbourg would be required to move into a 'blind' trust to remove any conflicts, or BlueCo could reduce their stake in one of the clubs to satisfy UEFA's rules.
For now, the Blues seem persistent in their aims to qualify for the Champions League and manager Maresca is backing his side to do so.
"Personally, the goal from Pedro (Neto) doesn't change my view of the season," said Maresca after the win over Fulham last month. "I said three or four days ago, and I will repeat, Chelsea in the last two years have never been in the Champions League spots and this season we spent all season there.
"So today's win doesn't change my view. It's already a good season and can become very good if we finish in the Champions League spots, no doubt.
"But for sure, today was an important win because first of all it's a derby, second, it gives us the chance to be there. And probably it was the most difficult win, and the reason why is because they (league rivals) all played yesterday."
