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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Ajax, Lille and Valencia - How Chelsea's Champions League opponents have started the season

After a one-year absence, Chelsea will once again be playing Champions League football this season.

The west London outfit finished third in the Premier League last term and also won the Europa League which saw them placed into pot 1 for the group stage draw.

And they were paired with Ajax, Lille and Valencia. A decent looking group for Frank Lampard as he makes his managerial debut in the competition.

The Blues warmed up for their return to European football's elite club competition with a 5-2 win over Wolves on Saturday, their second victory across all competitions under Lampard.

But how have their opponents in the group phase fared so far this season?

Football.london takes a look.

Valencia

Chelsea welcome Los Che to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night and now might just be the best time to face the La Liga outfit.

Thumped 5-2 at the weekend by Barcelona, Valencia have just the one league win to their name and have lost both of their away games so far this season.

Furthermore, they parted company with Marcelino last week despite him guiding the club to a Europa League semi-final and winning the Copa del Rey last season.

Lille

Chelsea's opponents on matchday two. Despite being weakened by the sale of Nicolas Pepe to Arsenal in the summer transfer window, Lille have made a decent start to the season.

Three points off reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain with their three wins all coming at home. Will need to improve on the road as they have lost both away games this season without scoring.

Back in the Champions League group phase for the first time since 2012 they begin with a trip to last season's semi-finalists Ajax.

Ajax

Speaking of the impressive Dutch team, they too were somewhat weakened in the summer. Frenkie de Jong's move to Barcelona was completed while Matthijs de Ligt joined Juventus.

However, they've still started the season well having had to overcome PAOK and Apoel in qualifying to reach the group phase.

Domestically they're almost perfect.

The only dropped points was the 2-2 draw away at Vitesse on the opening weekend of the new season and go into the clash against Lille on the back of three successive 4-1 wins.

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