Chelsea have missed out on having Papy Djilobodji play for them in the Champions League by a whisker. UEFA rules demand that clubs participating in the European Championship name at least eight players who will qualify as 'locally trained players' and 'association-trained players ' in their 25-man team.
The former Nantes man, Djilobodji, joined The Blues on the transfer window's final day. But as noted by Sky Sports, the defender has not made it the squad for their European commitments because they have missed the deadline for registering him. It is a mistake they will no doubt endeavour to avoid in the future.
This means manager Jose Mourinho will only have six defenders to get from his 25-man squad, which includes new purchases Asmir Begovic, Pedro, Rahman Baba and Radamel Falcao. Attackers Bertrand Traore and Kenedy have also been selected in the team ahead of Djilobodji. This will cause much disappointment to their league of fans, but they will have to put their faith in the other tremendous players they have. I'm sure they will stay loyal and support their team throughout the games.
Chelsea were seeded for the group stage of the draw and will play within a group made up of Dynamo Kiev, FC Porto and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Group C. They will be hoping to pip the post to the winners and move onto the next stage. They stand a fair chance, but these other teams will be wanting to prove themselves to the rest of Europe.