Chelsea F.C. in European football

European Cup / UEFA Champions League

Chelsea were invited to take part in the inaugural European Cup, now UEFA Champions League, in 1955 after they claimed their first league title the previous season. However, Chelsea were bullied into withdrawing from the tournament by the Football League FA. They had thus missed the chance to become the first English club to participate in and potentially win what is now the most prestigious club competition in European football. It was not until 44 years later that they would make their debut in the Champions League.

The 1999–2000 season saw the club progress through the group stage and the second group stage to reach the quarter-finals where they faced Barcelona of Spain. Chelsea won the first leg 3–1 at Stamford Bridge with Gianfranco Zola scoring the opener and Tore André Flo a brace. However, they were beaten 1-5 in Spain two weeks later and knocked out of the competition 4–6 on aggregate, thus ended their first Champions League journey.

Chelsea qualified for the 2003–04 Champions League by finishing fourth in the 2002–03 FA Premier League. Their place in the Champions League was secured on the final day of the season, beating fifth-place Liverpool 2–1 at home. The game was dubbed 'the £20m match' as Chelsea were only ahead of Liverpool on goal difference before kickoff; a win for either side would see them qualify for the following season's Champions League at the expense of the other. Jesper Grønkjær scored the winner in the 26th minute. The goal would later seemed by many as the most important in the club's history and said to be worth £1 billion, as many believe had Liverpool won on that day the subsequent takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich would never have happened.

Chelsea reached the semi-finals after defeating derby rivals Arsenal 2–1 at Highbury. Having not beaten Arsenal since November 1998, they went into the second leg with a 1–1 home draw. José Antonio Reyes' goal before the half time gave the Gunners the lead, however Chelsea managed to come back and won in the second half through Frank Lampard's goal within six minutes of the restart and Wayne Bridge's winning goal in the 88th minute.

The first leg of the semi-final however turned out to be a disaster for Chelsea as they were defeated 1–3 by ten-man Monaco at Stade Louis II stadium. Two weeks later at Stamford Bridge, they were leading 2–0 shortly before the halftime. Had they kept this score to the final whistle, they would go through on away goals. However, Monaco eventually came back in the second half and the game ended a 2–2 draw. As a consequence, Claudio Ranieri was sacked at the end of the season.

Chelsea came very close to winning the Champions League several times during the 2000s. The closest they came was in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, being held in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. This was the first ever all-English Champions League/European Cup Final, with Chelsea facing Manchester United. The game was tightly contested, with the final score after extra time 1–1. In the penalty shootout, Chelsea were one kick away from winning the Champions League (Petr Čech having saved Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty). But Chelsea's captain John Terry slipped on his run up for the final penalty and his shot hit the post. Edwin van der Sar then saved Nicolas Anelka's spot kick and Manchester United were crowned European Champions for the third time in their history.

The following season, Chelsea were on course to make their second final in two years. Following a 0–0 draw at the Camp Nou, Chelsea were beating Barcelona 1–0 at the Stamford Bridge. In a hugely controversial game, Barcelona managed to score an equaliser in the 94th minute of the game. With the score at 1–1, Barcelona progressed to the 2009 UEFA Champions League Final on away goals. Numerous Chelsea players protested in fury after the final whistle, most notable José Bosingwa and Didier Drogba. Drogba shouted into television cameras that the game was "a fucking disgrace." Both players were handed bans by UEFA for their actions.

Chelsea would not feature in a Champions League Final again until the 2012 Final that was being held in Munich's Allianz Arena. Following several nerve-wracking encounters en route against Napoli, Benfica and Barcelona, Chelsea faced a game against Bayern Munich, who would be playing the Final in their home ground. Bayern controlled the game for the most part, and took the lead in the Final in the 83rd minute through Thomas Müller. Didier Drogba restored parity five minutes later with a powerful header from a corner from Juan Mata. In extra time, Bayern missed several opportunities (including a penalty from Chelsea former player Arjen Robben, who was thrown off by John Obi Mikel's jibes) and the game was to be decided with a penalty shootout. Chelsea eventually triumphed 4–3, despite Juan Mata missing their first penalty. Two Bayern Munich players failed to convert their penalties; Ivica Olić and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Drogba scored the crucial, final penalty of the shootout. Chelsea won their first ever Champions League. The importance of victory went beyond being the crown jewel of Europe, and meant that Chelsea would secure a place in next season's Champions League after missing out of qualification, as a result of finishing sixth in the Premier League, five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea subsequently qualified for next season's Champions League in place of Tottenham.

It is interesting to note that in each of their Champions League Final appearances (in 2008 and 2012), Chelsea were being managed by an interim/caretaker manager at the time (Avram Grant in 2008 and Roberto Di Matteo in 2012). Di Matteo did receive a permanent contract after winning the 2012 trophy, but was sacked on 21 November that year after just eight months in charge; he had also guided Chelsea to success in the FA Cup as well as the European Cup during his short tenure.

By competition

By country

All-time top goal scorers in European competitions

Below is the list of all-time top goal scorers for Chelsea in the official UEFA competitions, including qualifying rounds. Names, that appear in italics, indicate players currently playing for the first team. Statistics are correct as of 27 July 2016.