Mansion Sports – The meeting between Napoli and Chelsea in the final match of the Champions League league phase presents an emotional atmosphere as well as high tension.

Several familiar faces now stand on opposite sides, with both teams carrying a must-win mission in order to keep their hopes alive in Europe’s elite competition.

This match is scheduled to take place at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Wednesday, 28 January 2026 at 21:00 local time.

Antonio Conte will face his former club with full awareness that his current team, who sit in 25th position, require maximum points to avoid elimination from the competition.

Meanwhile, Chelsea realistically must also overcome the Partenopei if they wish to finish inside the highly coveted top eight.

Before the match kicks off, let us take a look at the recommendations from Mansion Sports for where to watch Napoli vs Chelsea January 2026 so as not to miss the exciting action.

Conditions of Both Teams Ahead of the Match

Napoli

A disappointing week turned even worse after the defending champions under Conte were thrashed 3-0 by Juventus at the Allianz Stadium.

That defeat left Napoli nine points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan.

The poor result in Turin followed a disappointing draw the previous week against Copenhagen, who played with 10 men on the penultimate matchday of the league phase.

On that occasion, the Partenopei failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage after Thomas Delaney was sent off in the 35th minute.

Although Scott McTominay had opened the scoring before the break, Jordan Larsson equalised for Copenhagen at Parken, leaving the Italian giants in 25th place out of the 36 teams competing in the league phase.

Despite currently sitting outside the top 24 on goal difference, with five clubs all collecting eight points, a victory in Naples would greatly enhance the Serie A club’s chances of advancing to the knockout phase playoffs.

That scenario is quite plausible, considering Napoli collected seven points from a possible nine in home matches during the league phase.

In addition, they have recorded eight victories from 11 European matches against English teams, suffering only two defeats.

One of those eight victories came against Chelsea in the 2011/2012 season, when a 3-1 win in Naples gave Napoli an advantage in the round of 16.

However, Chelsea managed to turn the tie around with a 4-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Regarding Napoli’s squad conditions, Romelu Lukaku did return to action last weekend after being sidelined since August, but the striker is not expected to start against his former club.

As a result, Rasmus Hojlund is most likely to lead the attack from the opening minutes.

Alex Meret could feature in his first Champions League match since March 2024, following the potential absence of Vanja Milinkovic-Savic due to a muscle injury.

Kevin De Bruyne and Frank Anguissa head a long list of Napoli injuries, which also includes Billy Gilmour, Matteo Politano, David Neres, and Amir Rrahmani. In addition, winter signing Giovane is also unavailable due to eligibility status.

With McTominay having scored four of Napoli’s seven Champions League goals, while Hojlund has contributed two goals, the Scottish midfielder represents the primary threat to Chelsea.

Chelsea

The West London side return to the Maradona after 14 years since a disappointing appearance under Andre Villas-Boas nearly led to their elimination.

However, Chelsea instead went on to complete a remarkable journey to become Champions League winners after Villas-Boas was dismissed and Roberto Di Matteo changed the club’s fortunes.

Much has changed for both teams since then, and not a single player in Chelsea’s current squad was part of that historic campaign.

Even Conte himself, who coached Chelsea from 2016 to 2018, may no longer recognise many faces in the visitors’ camp, given the scale of change in West London since he left the club around eight years ago.

Regardless of the circumstances, Chelsea are certainly not arriving with any intention of easing off. They are determined to secure automatic qualification to the first knockout round and avoid the risky playoff stage.

Chelsea enter this midweek match on the back of their best performance under Liam Rosenior, having defeated Crystal Palace 3-1 at Selhurst Park.

That victory extended their unbeaten run against Palace to 18 matches.

The Premier League result also extended Chelsea’s winning streak to three consecutive matches in all competitions, and four wins from five games since the departure of Enzo Maresca.

They are now targeting four successive victories for the first time since September to October last year.

However, Chelsea must contend with a poor record when visiting Italy in European competition. They have won only twice from 13 visits, suffering eight defeats.

Six of their last seven trips to Italy have ended in defeat, including a 2-1 loss to Atalanta in December.

This situation makes the challenge at the Maradona even tougher, especially as Napoli have been unbeaten at the stadium since December 2024.

The situation becomes more concerning as Chelsea have also not won an away Champions League match since defeating RB Salzburg 2-1 in October 2022.

Since then, they have lost to Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Atalanta, while only managing a draw against Qarabag FK.

With eight clubs all collecting 13 points, Chelsea could still finish as high as third place, but they also risk dropping into a non-seeded position in the playoff round if they suffer another defeat and other results go against them.

Although the pressure faced by Napoli is not as great as that on Chelsea, the need for maximum points is clearly an absolute priority for both teams ahead of this crucial meeting, which also highlights the Napoli vs Chelsea January 2026 lineups.

Regarding squad conditions for the visitors, Joao Pedro has scored eight goals in the Premier League, but only one goal in European competition.

In the Champions League, Estevao Willian and Moises Caicedo have instead been Chelsea’s top scorers.

The involvement of Cole Palmer remains in doubt after he missed the 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace due to a thigh issue.

With Rosenior emphasising that he will not take risks on players who are not fully fit, Palmer is most likely to begin the match on the bench.

Romeo Lavia has yet to return to training with the first team, while the condition of Filip Jorgensen is still under evaluation. Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Dario Essugo are confirmed to be unavailable.

After an impressive performance in midfield against Palace, it will be interesting to see whether Rosenior once again entrusts Andrey Santos with a starting role, a decision that could impact the role of Reece James.

The Chelsea captain’s playing time must be managed carefully, and it remains uncertain whether he will start from the outset after featuring for 81 minutes in the previous match.

Where to Watch Napoli vs Chelsea January 2026

For those who want to watch and are looking for where to watch Napoli vs Chelsea January 2026, depending on your country of residence, this match can be viewed through official streaming platforms such as:

• beIN Sports
• DAZN
• Stan Sport
• Sky Sport
• TNT Sports
• VTVcab
• SPOTV