Djurgardens IF vs. Chelsea: Premier League giants bidding to extend 53-year streak against Swedish opponents

Chelsea are currently preparing for the first leg of their Conference League semi-final with Djurgardens IF on Thursday night.

Although Enzo Maresca's squad make the trip to Sweden with Champions League qualification through the Premier League remaining as their priority, the Blues are eager to complete the set of European trophies.

The West Londoners are no strangers to facing Swedish opposition having previously been involved in eight competitive games against teams from the Scandinavian nation.

During that time, a 53-year streak has been compiled, and here, Sports Mole takes a look at the previous contests that have taken place over the years.

ATVIDABERG (1971-72 EUROPEAN CUP WINNERS' CUP)

Having won the Cup Winners' Cup during the previous season, Chelsea had high hopes of a successful defence of their trophy.

They had no reason to believe that they would not make the latter stages having recorded a 21-0 aggregate triumph over Luxembourg outfit Jeunesse Hautcharage.

However, after a goalless away leg, Chelsea were left stunned at Stamford Bridge, only registering a 1-1 draw to bow out on away goals to a team who would later go on to lift the Swedish league title for the first time in their history.

HELSINGBORG (1998-99 UEFA CUP WINNERS' CUP)

Lightning struck twice as defending champions Chelsea were paired with another Swedish team during the early stages of the 1999 edition.

The coincidences continued as Helsingborg went on to win the Swedish crown later that season, ending a 58-year wait, but they ultimately benefited from an early exit from Europe.

Frank Leboeuf scored the only goal of the game during the first leg at Stamford Bridge before Chelsea did enough to earn a goalless draw during the return fixture.

MALMO (2018-19 EUROPA LEAGUE)

Fast forward to 2019 and Chelsea were paired with Malmo in the last 32 of the Europa League. Malmo had benefited from being drawn in a favourable group, finishing ahead of Besiktas and Sarpsborg 08 to claim second spot behind Genk.

However, the double-header with Chelsea proved to be a step too far. The first leg took place in Sweden, with Ross Barkley and Olivier Giroud getting on the scoresheet to give the Blues a 2-1 advantage after of the second 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge.

While the Premier League giants were made to work hard in West London, three second-half strikes from the same two players and Callum Hudson-Odoi got the job done.

Chelsea would eventually go on to win the competition, with Maurizio Sarri lifting the club's sixth European crown before being replaced by Frank Lampard.

MALMO (2021-22 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)

Less than three years later, and in the season after Chelsea lifted the 2021 trophy, the English outfit and Malmo would lock horns again, but this time in the Champions League.

Joined by Juventus and Zenit St Petersburg in Group F, Thomas Tuchel was aware that his squad had a battle on their hands to progress, a view strengthened when losing in Italy against Juventus on matchday two.

That left Chelsea under pressure to take advantage of back-to-back matches with Malmo, with the first fixture turning out to be a breeze as Andreas Christensen, Jorginho (two penalties) and Kai Havertz all got on the scoresheet in a 4-0 cruise at Stamford Bridge.

The second game in Sweden proved to be far more testing, as Chelsea required a cool finish from Hakim Ziyech shortly after half time to seal a 1-0 win.

Chelsea eventually reached the quarter-finals before they lost out to Real Madrid by a 5-4 aggregate scoreline, producing an unthinkable comeback to lead 3-0 at the Bernabeu before Rodrygo Goes and Karim Benzema eventually saved the day for Los Blancos.