Chelsea supporters have called Jamie Carragher a ‘clown’ after he made a shock prediction about the club for the 2025-26 Champions League.
The Blues are back playing in Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in two years this season after finishing fourth in the Premier League.
Chelsea have made massive improvements under head coach Enzo Maresca with the Blues winning both the Conference League and Club World Cup since the Italian replaced Mauricio Pochettino in July 2024.
But Liverpool legend Carragher has angered Chelsea fans this summer by playing down their Club World Cup triumph and suggesting the west London side are no closer to winning the Premier League in 2025-26.
What did Jamie Carragher say about Chelsea?
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The football pundit has now further upset Chelsea supporters by predicting the club will flop in the Champions League this season.
Carragher has brutally argued that Chelsea won’t make it out of the league phase and will fail to qualify for the knockout rounds.
‘Hot take on Chelsea from me,’ Carragher said on The Overlap. ‘I don’t think Chelsea will qualify out of the Champions League group stage.’
There was a shocked reaction from the rest of the panel after Carragher’s claim as fellow pundit Jill Scott responded: ‘Oooh, that is a hot take.’
Chelsea fans call pundit a ‘clown’ and a ‘fraud’
Chelsea fans have reacted furiously to Carragher’s prediction on social media.
’17 years at Liverpool, the self-proclaimed, biggest club in England… and zero PL titles,’ @CFC_KTBFFH_COYB posted on X. ‘This guy is such a fraud.’
‘Wait, have we been grouped already???’ @Ohluwatobilobah asked. ‘So he has not even seen the clubs we are playing against and already has this opinion. Carragher needs to get checked for bile against Chelsea at this point.’
‘It’s time we stop taking whatever he’s saying seriously,’ @Chelseafc_fanpa opined. ‘It’s clear he’s just hating and clearly feel hurt whenever Chelsea win. He’s opinion doesn’t count, everyone knows he’s just chasing clout and every time he talks it’s always about Chelsea.’
‘This clown is deliberately discrediting @ChelseaFC to gain relevance,’ @JP_jamjam13 added. ‘Without Chelsea in everything he says, he’s as dumb as his face looks.’
How many teams qualify for Champions League knockout rounds?
There are a total of 36 teams across Europe who compete in the league phase of the Champions League.
The top eight automatically qualify for the last 16 while teams who finish ninth to 24th advance to the knockout phase play-offs – an extra knockout round before the last 16 gets underway.
In last season’s league phase, Liverpool finished top after winning seven of their eight matches while Arsenal were third, Aston Villa were eighth and Manchester City were 22nd.
The likes of French side Brest, Scottish club Celtic and Belgian team Club Brugge were all able to finish inside the top 24 last season too.
The only clubs to miss out were Dinamo Zagreb, Stuttgart, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bologna, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Sparta Prague, RB Leipzig, Girona, Red Bull Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys.