Five famous Chelsea Champions League openers

14/09/2017

Chelsea started their Champions League campaign in style on Tuesday with a 6-0 thrashing of newcomers Qarabag.

It was the Blues biggest ever opening win in the Champions League group stages, a competition they won in 2011/12.

Could the Blues win it again? The start is very important, but the Blues have a way to go first. Let's have a look at five other Chelsea Champions League openers to find out.

1. Chelsea's first game in the 2011/12 Champions League was against Bayer Leverkusen, which they won 2-0. Goals from David Luiz and Juan Mata sealed the win.

2. The Blues first match in the Champions League ended goalless. However, Gianfranco Zola came close to opening the scoring when they played five-time winners AC Milan in 1999/00.

3. The Blues have won their opening match 4-0 on two occasions! First against Bordeaux in 2008/09, and then against Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2015/16.

4. The Blues made it to the semi-finals in 2008/09, under Luiz Felipe Scolari, who also has the incredible record of winning his first matches as Chelsea boss in three competitions by the same scoreline: 4-0 against Portsmouth in both the Premier League and the League Cup, as well as against Bordeaux

5. Chelsea also had a great result in 2010/11 when they beat MSK Zilina 4-1 away.

The Blues' next UCL fixture is against Atlético Madrid on 27 September. Keep an eye on BridgeKids for the preview!