Servette goalkeeper Jeremy Frick is expecting the second leg of their UEFA Conference League qualification tie against Chelsea to be “totally different” from the first.
Chelsea came out on top in the first half of the tie, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Cristopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke in an unconvincing display in which the Swiss side spurned several opportunities to score.
The travelling Servette supporters, while heavily outnumbered, were in full voice throughout the match, singing constantly as they urged their team onwards. It is their support that Frick believes will make the difference on Thursday as Chelsea visit Geneva for the second leg.
“I think in the second game it will be totally different,” he said. “Our stadium is hard to come to, because it is a lot of noise and the fans are always behind us, I think it will be a great game.”
Servette’s fans are renowned in Switzerland for their commitment, which intensified after the club entered administration in 2005 and was slapped with an enforced relegation to the Swiss third tier. Chelsea players can expect to be met with tifos and flares on their arrival at the Stade de Geneve.
But Servette will have a daunting task on their hands to turn over Chelsea’s two-goal lead. Frick is optimistic, though, saying that they were unfortunate not to score in the first leg.
“Today was a great game, I think we did well.
“I don’t think Chelsea expected us to play like that and I think that we did a good match, a good game, we had some chances to score at the end today.
“We did some mistakes. Chelsea is a big team, it is complicated to do that in this moment of the game.”
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