True Blues — Chelsea FC
ΕΛ

Season: 2025–26

Premier League

Under review

League

Chelsea began 2025–26 with the glow of being world champions, but only 35 days separated the triumph in New Jersey from the new league campaign.

Division
Premier League (Tier 1)
Manager
Enzo Maresca (until 1 January 2026); Calum McFarlane (caretaker, January matches at Manchester City and Fulham); Liam Rosenior (appointed 6 January, began work 8 January – 22 April 2026); Calum McFarlane (interim, 22 April – end of season)
Top scorer (league)
João Pedro (15)
Top scorer (all comps)
João Pedro (20)

Cups & Europe

FA Cup
Runners-up
League Cup
Semi-finals
Europe
European Cup / Champions League: Round of 16

Notes

Chelsea began 2025–26 with the glow of being world champions, but only 35 days separated the triumph in New Jersey from the new league campaign. What followed brought flashes of the team's attacking promise without the consistency to build on the previous season's fourth place. The final Premier League record was 10th with 52 points from 38 matches: 14 wins, 10 draws and 14 defeats, with 58 goals scored and 52 conceded. A season that still offered routes back into Europe in May ended without a trophy or qualification for the following season's European competitions. The changing dugout became part of that story. Enzo Maresca left on 1 January 2026. Under-21s coach Calum McFarlane stepped in for the January league games at Manchester City and Fulham: a 1–1 draw at the Etihad was followed by a 2–1 defeat at Craven Cottage. Liam Rosenior was appointed on 6 January, but McFarlane remained in charge for the Fulham game before the new head coach began working with the squad on 8 January. Rosenior's first match brought a 5–1 FA Cup win at Charlton on 10 January. His opening league run included three successive victories, and the 3–2 home comeback against West Ham, from two goals down at half-time, briefly offered the feeling of a fresh start. That momentum did not last. Rosenior departed on 22 April, and McFarlane returned as interim head coach through the end of the season. João Pedro gave supporters a dependable source of goals in his first full Chelsea campaign. He led the scoring with 20 in all competitions: 15 in the Premier League, three in the Champions League and two in the FA Cup. Those are the totals for this campaign, not his goals in the previous summer's Club World Cup. Enzo Fernández added 15 across all competitions, Cole Palmer 11 and Pedro Neto 10; in the league Fernández and Palmer both reached 10. João Pedro's hat-trick in the 4–1 win at Aston Villa and his two goals in Naples showed the range of his finishing, while the overhead kick against Nottingham Forest took him to the 20-goal mark. He was voted the club's Player of the Season. The return to the Champions League produced one of the most uplifting nights of the autumn, a 3–0 home victory over Barcelona. On 28 January, João Pedro's second-half double turned a deficit at Napoli into a 3–2 win, lifting Chelsea to sixth in the league phase with 16 points and straight into the last 16. The knockout draw, however, brought Paris Saint-Germain and a painful reversal of the previous summer's final. Chelsea lost 5–2 in Paris on 11 March and 3–0 at Stamford Bridge on 17 March, going out 8–2 on aggregate. The quality of the league-phase highlights could not disguise the scale of that exit. The League Cup offered another run to the latter stages. Away wins at Lincoln City, 2–1, Wolves, 4–3, and Cardiff City, 3–1, carried Chelsea into a semi-final with Arsenal. A 3–2 defeat at Stamford Bridge left the tie within reach, but the second leg on 3 February ended 1–0 to Arsenal. With Chelsea pushing for the goal that would level the aggregate score, former Blue Kai Havertz struck on the break in stoppage time. The 4–2 aggregate defeat ended that route to Wembley. The FA Cup kept the season's last hope of silverware alive. After Charlton came a 4–0 win at Hull, a 4–2 extra-time victory at Wrexham and a 7–0 quarter-final win over Port Vale. McFarlane's return to the dugout brought a 1–0 semi-final victory against Leeds at Wembley on 26 April, Enzo Fernández heading in Neto's cross. Manchester City awaited in the final on 16 May. Chelsea remained in the contest, with Moisés Caicedo's header cleared off the line, but Antoine Semenyo's near-post flick from Erling Haaland's delivery decided it. A 1–0 defeat meant another Wembley afternoon ended one step short of the cup. The league finale at Sunderland on 24 May carried the remaining chance of European qualification. Trai Hume's volley and an unfortunate Malo Gusto own goal put Chelsea two behind before Palmer's powerful strike offered a way back. Wesley Fofana's dismissal made the task harder, and the ten men could not find an equaliser. The 2–1 defeat confirmed tenth place. For supporters, the contrast defined the campaign: João Pedro's goals, nights of real attacking quality and another cup final, but too many changes and too little sustained progress to turn those moments into a successful season.

Kits

Home
Away
Third

IFS appeared from February 2026.

Illustration from hex colours (not official kit photography).

On this day (related years)

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History

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Sources

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