Stockholm’s 3Arena was buzzing last night, a cauldron of noise from Djurgarden’s diehard fans, but it was Chelsea who silenced the crowd with a 4-1 demolition in the UEFA Conference League semi-final first leg on May 1, 2025. The Blues, under Enzo Maresca’s cool-headed management, carved up the Swedish side like a Sunday roast, with substitute Nicolas Jackson stealing the show by bagging two goals in a six-minute second-half blitz. Chelsea are now one step from the final in Wroclaw, Poland, on May 28, and they’re looking every bit like a team ready to etch their name as the first to claim all of UEFA’s major trophies.
From the opening whistle, Chelsea’s rotated squad—shuffled with eight changes to keep legs fresh for a looming Premier League clash with Liverpool—showed they meant business. Jadon Sancho got the party started in the 12th minute, latching onto a pinpoint Enzo Fernandez pass, cutting inside, and firing a shot that Djurgarden’s Marcus Danielson could only bundle into his own net. The home fans, draped in blue and yellow, barely had time to regroup before Noni Madueke struck just before halftime. Fernandez, pulling strings like a puppet master, fed Madueke, who feinted past keeper Jacob Rinne and slotted home with a low drive in the 43rd minute. It was 2-0, and Chelsea were cruising.
Djurgarden, the first Swedish team to reach a UEFA semi-final since 1987, weren’t rolling over. They came out swinging after the break, with Hampus Finndell’s half-volley whistling past the post and Adam Stahl forcing a sharp save from Chelsea’s Swedish-born keeper Filip Jorgensen. But any hopes of a comeback were snuffed out when Maresca unleashed his big guns at halftime, throwing on Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo, Trevoh Chalobah, and Jackson. The move paid off almost instantly. In the 59th minute, Jackson pounced on a calamitous mix-up between Danielson and Rinne, strolling the ball into an empty net. Six minutes later, he was at it again, taking a Caicedo interception, shifting to his left foot, and rifling a screamer into the top corner from the edge of the box.
The home crowd finally had something to cheer in the 68th minute when 18-year-old substitute Isak Alemayehu nodded in a Tobias Gulliksen cross for his first senior goal, a moment of pride for Djurgarden’s depleted squad, which leaned on five teenagers on the bench. But it was too little, too late. Chelsea nearly added a fifth when 16-year-old debutant Reggie Walsh, fresh off the bench, unleashed a rocket that Rinne clawed away. The final whistle confirmed Chelsea’s dominance, with a three-goal cushion heading into the second leg at Stamford Bridge on May 8.
Djurgarden’s journey to the semi-finals, after 16 grueling matches starting in July 2024 against Luxembourg’s Progres Niederkorn, has been a fairy tale for the club valued at roughly £18 million—less than a seventh of Chelsea’s Cole Palmer alone. Chelsea, meanwhile, have now scored four goals in a Conference League match five times this season and remain unbeaten against Swedish opposition. The Blues’ only loss in their last 15 UEFA semi-final matches came in 2019, and they’ve won their last six away games in this competition.