AFCON 2025: How Senegal’s Title Win, Nigeria’s WC Failure Could Help Chelsea Win Champions League
- Chelsea has the stars aligning for them to win their third UEFA Champions League title this season
- The Blues’ last triumph in the competition was in 2021 under German manager Thomas Tuchel
- A series of events which happened that year have occurred again this year to back the Londoners for the win
Chelsea could win their third UEFA Champions League title this season as a series of events which happened during their win in 2021 are beginning to reoccur.
The Blues are a two-time Champions League winner, having first won the competition in 2012, before achieving success again nine years later in 2021.
Source: Getty Images
Chelsea is the third most successful English side in the competition, behind Liverpool with seven titles and Manchester United with three, and could tie the Red Devils this year.
Why Chelsea could win the Champions League
As noted by Livescore, three chain of events which happened in 2021 when they won it in Porto, beating Manchester City, have all happened again.
Senegal wins AFCON
The Teranga Lions of Senegal won the recently concluded 2025 Africa Cup of Nations trophy, similar to how they were champions in 2021 when Chelsea won the title.
According to CAF, Sadio Mane was at the centre of Senegal’s win in 2021 and again in 2025 is the Player of the Tournament, leading his country to a dramatic title.
Nigeria fails to qualify for World Cup
The Super Eagles of Nigeria did not qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup after losing in the playoffs to rivals Ghana on away goal after a 1-1 aggregate score.
As noted by SuperSport, Nigeria has once again failed to make it to the global showpiece after losing to DR Congo on penalties in the African playoff, missing out on consecutive tournaments.
However, both Senegal's triumph and Nigeria's failure in 2022 happened after Chelsea’s 2021 victory, it is worth the attention that they happen around it.
Chelsea appoints new manager in January
Chelsea sacked club legend Frank Lampard in January 2021 after a poor run of results, and appointed Thomas Tuchel, whom Paris Saint-Germain had sacked a month earlier.
Tuchel masterminded a turnaround of Chelsea’s sinking season, finishing fourth, having taken over from ninth and winning the Champions League.
Source: Getty Images
The Blues have followed in a similar pattern this year, parted ways with Enzo Maresca on January 1, after weeks of tension between the manager and the club’s hierarchy.
Chelsea appointed Liam Rosenior who was previously the manager of RC Strasbourg in the French Ligue 1, signing a contract until June 2031.
Rosenior is saddled with the responsibility of stabilising Chelsea’s season after the turbulent final weeks under his predecessor, Maresca.
Supercomputer predicts Champions League winner
Legit.ng reported that Opta's supercomputer predicted the Champions League winner after six matches in the group stage in December 2025.
Arsenal remains firm favourite to win the competition this season, while London rivals Chelsea has a 3.33% chance of winning the trophy.
Source: Legit.ng
