Chelsea are returning to the elite European football, UEFA Champions League with a 23-man team to face Croatian club, Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night.
The Blues crashed out of the competition in the quarter-finals last season despite winning their second leg match against Champions Real Madrid at Bernabeu.
Madrid beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge but Thomas Tuchel’s side pulled some stunt in the second leg in Spain when they led 3-0.
They, however, fell short of their performance as they failed to hold on leading to the La Liga giants scoring two goals to advance to the semi-final.
The match ended 3-2 with Chelsea’s Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger, Timo Werner on the scoresheet while Rodrygo and Karim Benzema scored for Los Blancos.
Chelsea were out of the last UCL outing with their shoulders raised high on a 4-5 aggregate against Real Madrid.
Silva, Kante out, Aubameyang, Fofana, Zakaria in
For tomorrow’s game, Chelsea have confirmed the squad which has travelled to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
Chelsea have reinforced their squad by spending £272 million to sign Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang among others.
However, despite starting every match so far this season, Thiago Silva did not travel with the squad for the Champions League opener.
Also, N’Golo Kante did not travel to Croatia due to a hamstring injury sustained against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season.
New signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Zakaria make the squad and could be in line for their Chelsea debuts.
Wesley Fofana could be in line for his second start after his debut against West Ham.
The Blues will be hoping to get a win in their first match of the competition.
Below are the Chelsea players that flew to Croatia on Monday ahead of the match.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Marcus Bettinelli, Edouard Mendy,
Defenders: Trevo Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cesar Azpilicueta, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana,
Midfielders: Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount, Denis Zakaria, Carney Chukwuemeka,
Forwards: Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech, Armando Broja, Christian Pulisic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.