Servette boss Thomas Haberli is enjoying himself here, laughing away with one of the officials in the touchline.

A long throw into the Chelsea penalty area is not cleared by the hosts and Enzo Crivelli manages to get an effort away at goal. albeit it is extremely tame and easily saved.

Image source, Getty Images

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Enzo Maresca and his nearly entire backroom staff go mad as Chelsea's players almost fail to detect back-to-back short corner routines.

Pedro Neto was eventually the player to go and pick up the spare man.

Servette are surprisingly giving Chelsea a game and the Blues manager looks frustrated.

This is a good passage of play from the visitors who win a second corner and then a third after a nice switch of play almost put Bosnian winger Miroslav Stevanovic in.

Servette winger Dereck Kutesa gets in down the left but his shot deflects over the Chelsea bar.

Good play from the visitors.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Joao Felix got a very warm welcome as he returned to Stamford Bridge ahead of kick-off.

That atmosphere has continued and it is, surprisingly, louder than the Manchester City one.

Chelsea fan are expectant and ready to enjoy a match that they are very much expected to win against the third best team in Switzerland.

European nights at Stamford Bridge can often be louder than domestic matches but you would have forgiven them for not being so up for a Conference League Play-Off match, which is sold out.

Chelsea in complete control at present but Servette have 10 men behind the ball with Enzo Crivelli and Timothe Cognat taking turns at playing the lone front man for the visitors.

Gael Ondoua's cross-cum-shot causes Chelsea keeper Filip Jorgensen a problem.

The Denmark Under-21 international is scrambling and looks relieved to see the ball fly just over the crossbar onto the roof of the net.

A short stoppage in play as Servette captain Jeremy Frick goes down. The visiting keeper looks fine though and on we go.

Almost the opening goal for the hosts.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall plays in Marc Guiu...the 18-year-old Spaniard rounds the Servette keeper Jeremy Frick but his touch is too heavy and it goes behind for a goal kick.

Image source, Getty Images

Away we go...

Servette of course will be keen to compete in the new 36-team league phase of this tournament.

And as such they are lining up with two holding midfielders this evening, a slight deviation from what they normally do.

Having only lost 2-1 on aggregate to Portuguese side Braga in their Europa League qualifier, the Swiss side, who are fifth in their domestic league, have already played eight matches in total this season and could be a little bit ahead of Chelsea when it comes to match sharpness.

The atmosphere is building and here come the teams...

He is not playing this evening but Joao Felix, who rejoined Chelsea yesterday from Atletico Madrid for a fee in the region of £45m is getting a lovely ovation as he is introduced to the crowd.

The Portugal forward scored four goals in 20 appearances during a loan spell in west London in 2023.

The 24-year-old has signed a seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge and will no doubt be keen to improve on these numbers.

Servette have never actually previously played at Stamford Bridge.

The only meetings between the two clubs came in the decade following the Second World War, both in Geneva.

The first came on 30 May 1946 as part of a post-season tour of Switzerland (these days you'd imagine that being in North America or Asia). Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners thanks to England forward Len Goulden and an own goal.

The second match took place in January 1954, with Ted Drake’s side playing back-to-back matches in Switzerland over an FA Cup weekend – having already bowed out of the competition. The Maroons won that one 1-0.

Ross Mooring, Fan writer:

The sorry saga of Conor Gallagher's time at Chelsea since the takeover of 2022 has come to an end - with his move to Atletico Madrid finally sealed.

Beyond the debate over selling a player - who outperformed everyone in a blue shirt last year who wasn't named Cole Palmer - Gallagher is a homegrown talent who applied himself, in a way not easy to replicate in terms of commitment nor desire.

Without his on-field contributions last season the club would not have qualified for Europe nor enjoyed two long domestic cup runs.

Chelsea's management were bemusingly compelled to buy Joao Felix from Atletico just to force through the sale after the collapse of the Samu Omorodion deal.

Felix was deemed not good enough by Atletico, Barcelona, and had a subpar loan spell here in 2023. Chelsea's transfer fee combined with the cost of Gallagher's replacement in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (a player currently nowhere near an England setup that included Gallagher in the Euros) has wiped out the "pure profit" for which Gallagher has been sold.

The icing on this sour cake is the club's attempts to hide Gallagher being forced out from the start, offering him an insultingly short term contract with the apparent promise of another new deal - if he established himself in Enzo Maresca's side.

No one at Chelsea, fans especially, would begrudge Gallagher laughing at such a return under the current management. Morale among supporters is at a very low ebb under the current ownership.

Just under 12 minutes until kick-off and I think it would be fair to say Stamford Bridge is still filling up and is unlikely to be anywhere near capacity when proceedings get under way shortly.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

It’s safe to say that sections of the Chelsea fanbase have raised their eyebrows over the treatment and departure of a homegrown midfielder, in Conor Gallagher, who clearly loved the club.

There are a lot of parallels to Mason Mount’s departure to Manchester United last summer - as two popular homegrown stars felt they were pushed out.

Ultimately, Chelsea don’t believe Gallagher, who has exceptional energy level and fitness, is as good at playing the short passing game that will soon characterise the club.

But it won’t stop some supporters feeling that all these sales of academy players are a soulless ploy to cover transfer market mistakes and keep them

Image source, Getty Images

Going back to Ben Chilwell....to be honest I have some sympathy with the 27-year-old.

He's won over 20 caps for England but somehow couldn't get in the Euro 2024 squad, when there were seemingly no other fit left-footed left-backs around.

And now the 27-year-old is in the bomb squad at Chelsea. It must feel like he's walked under 10 ladders or broken a dozen mirrors since the end of last season.

Image source, Getty Images

It's not been a debut to remember so far for former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, who conceded twice in the opening 12 minutes on his first start for Fiorentina.

The Italians trail Hungarian outfit Puskas Akademia 2-0 in the first leg of their Conference League play-off.

Chelsea spent around £750m in 2022-23 and a further £450m went into the 2023-24 accounts.

This summer the Blues have added to their army of players to the tune of £120m net according to figures on various websites like soccerbase.

So no wonder they want to sell Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell, even if head coach Enzo Maresca reckons things are not in a "mess".

Both Sterling and Chilwell have apparently been told they are not in the Italian's plans and are training separately in a 21-man group away from the current first team.

"They (Chilwell and Sterling) are in this moment training apart," said Maresca.

"The situation with both of them is quite clear. We have a big squad and for me it's impossible give all of them minutes. If they are looking for minutes, probably it is better to leave."