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Chelsea and Aston Villa are England's representatives in the 2026-27 Europa League. After the group stage, we assess which club has a realistic shot at the final in Bilbao.
The UEFA Europa League final in 2026-27 will be held at the San Mames stadium in Bilbao, Spain — a fitting venue for a competition that has grown significantly in prestige since the introduction of the Conference League took the bottom tier of European football off its plate. England has two representatives in the Europa League this season: Chelsea, who qualified via their fifth-place Premier League finish last season, and Aston Villa, who qualified seventh and entered at the group stage after a preliminary round win.
Chelsea topped their Europa League group with four wins and two draws, conceding only three goals in six matches. Maresca has used the Thursday games shrewdly, rotating his squad and giving fringe players the minutes they need to remain sharp, while keeping his key attackers — Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson — relatively fresh for Premier League commitments. Their most impressive European performance was a 3-0 win against a German Bundesliga side in Matchday 5, a result that announced their continental ambitions.
The challenge for Chelsea is the knockout round draw: the Europa League's expanded format means they may face a relegated Champions League side — potentially a team of significant quality — in the round of 16. If they draw well, the semi-final is achievable. If they face Porto, Benfica, or a relegated Champions League club of substance, the test becomes considerably harder.
Villa qualified second from their group after a nervous final Matchday in which they needed a win at home and got it — 2-0 against a Turkish side — to pip a Dutch club to the runners-up spot. Their European journey has been bumpier than their Premier League form might suggest, with Emery rotating heavily and occasionally fielding a first eleven with four or five changes from the team that played the previous Saturday.
Villa's realistic ambition is the quarter-final. Getting there would require three wins in home-and-away ties — achievable with their squad quality, but dependent on managing the domestic fixture pile-up through February and March without significant injuries to their first-choice eleven.
Both clubs have the quality to reach the final if they draw well and avoid an injury crisis. Chelsea are the more consistent performers; Villa have the European experience of their manager, who has won the Europa League twice and knows precisely what it demands. At current form, we favour Chelsea to reach the semi-final. As for the final — that depends on what the draw produces.
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