The 2014–15 season was Chelsea Football Club's 101st competitive season, 26th consecutive season in the top flight of English football, 23rd consecutive season in the Premier League, and 109th year in existence as a football club. In addition to the domestic league, Chelsea participated in the UEFA Champions League after qualifying directly for the group stage by finishing third in the league last season. The club secured its fourth Premier League title by beating Crystal Palace on 3 May 2015.
The season was the first since 2000–01 without Frank Lampard, who joined Manchester City.
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Month by month review
June
Midfielder and all-time top scorer Frank Lampard left the Blues after 13 trophy-laden years, having played 648 games and scoring 211 goals. During his Chelsea career, he won 13 trophies, including three Premier Leagues, four FA Cups, two League Cups, one Europa League and one Champions League.
Chelsea announced the signing of former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas from Barcelona for £27 million. He was given the number 4 shirt vacated after the departure of David Luiz to Paris Saint-Germain on a five-year contract. David Luiz's transfer was completed just a day after the signing of Fàbregas and the Brazilian left the Blues having played 143 games and scoring 12 goals.
July On 1 July, Ashley Cole departed Chelsea after eight years. He left after winning one Premier League, four FA Cups, one League Cup and one Champions League. Along with Cole leaving Stamford Bridge, Samuel Eto'o, Henrique Hilário and Sam Hutchinson left as well.
On the same day, Mark Schwarzer signed a new one-year extension. Chelsea also announced that they agreed a fee with Atlético Madrid for Striker Diego Costa, thought to be in the region of £32 million, and eventually signed him on 15 July.
On 16 July, Chelsea announced that they had agreed a fee with Atlético Madrid for left back Filipe Luís, thought to be for about £16 million, subject to a medical and agreeing personal terms, whilst Beşiktaş announced that they had agreed a deal to sign Demba Ba from the Blues for a reported £4.7 million. Ba left the Blues having played 51 games and scoring 14 goals. The same day, a youthful Chelsea team comfortably defeated League 2 side Wycombe Wanderers 5–0 in their first pre-season friendly at Adams Park in Buckinghamshire.
On 18 July, Filipe Luís officially became a Chelsea player, being given the shirt number 5, vacated by Michael Essien who had worn the number from 2005 until his departure in January 2014. It was also confirmed that his teammate at Atlético Madrid and now Chelsea, Diego Costa, would take the number 19 shirt, vacated by Demba Ba, who had held the number since Paulo Ferreira left the club in the summer of 2013. Also that day, another very youthful Chelsea team narrowly defeated another League 2 side Wimbledon in their second pre-season friendly at Kingsmeadow in southwest London, winning the match 3–2 after being two goals down at half-time; the comeback was aided by a few senior players brought on for the second-half. The next day, Chelsea announced that Filipe Luís will get the shirt number 3 while the shirt number 5 will be given to 19-year-old French defender Kurt Zouma.
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba re-signed for Chelsea from Galatasaray for free on a one-year deal. Drogba's last kick for the Blues was the final penalty in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, which won the Champions League for Chelsea for the first time. In the new season, Drogba will wear the number 15 shirt; his former number 11 shirt had been given to Oscar. Drogba, however, reclaimed his former number 11 after Oscar was handed number 8, last worn by Frank Lampard.
Romelu Lukaku departed the Blues for £28 million to Everton, leaving after playing 12 games for Chelsea and scoring zero goals, while Ryan Bertrand was sent on a season-long loan to Southampton, his sixth loan spell for the Blues.
August Defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu signed on a season long loan for Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. Chelsea travelled to Istanbul to take on Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş in a small three-team tournament. Chelsea beat Fenerbahçe 2–0 with goals from Diego Costa and Branislav Ivanović. The Blues, however, then lost to Beşiktaş 1–0, also opposing former Blue, Demba Ba.
Chelsea began their 2014–15 Premier League campaign with a 1–3 victory against Burnley on 18 August at Turf Moor. Chelsea surrendered the first goal in the 13th minute, but three minutes later, Costa smashed home a close-range shot to level the score. A pass from Cesc Fàbregas then set up an André Schürrle goal to break the deadlock, and Ivanović provided the final goal of the match from a corner in the 34th minute. This match marked the first competitive action for new signings Costa, Fàbregas and Thibaut Courtois, who started in goal after a three-year loan spell at Atlético Madrid. Didier Drogba also made his return appearance to the Chelsea squad, coming off the bench in the second-half.
Chelsea won their first competitive home match with a 2–0 victory against Leicester City on 24 August at Stamford Bridge. Costa scored his second goal in two matches followed by Eden Hazard's first goal of the season. Courtois claimed his first clean sheet of his Chelsea career.
On 29 August, Fernando Torres signed a two-year loan deal with Milan. Chelsea's next game was a nine-goal thriller away against Everton, a game which Chelsea won 3–6, with Costa scoring a brace.
On 31 August, Loïc Rémy transferred to Chelsea from Queens Park Rangers for £10.5 million on a four-year deal.
September On transfer deadline day, Chelsea sent three players on loan—Jamal Blackman joined Patrick Bamford on loan at Middlesbrough, Marco van Ginkel signed on a year-long loan at Milan and Nathaniel Chalobah joined Premier League club Burnley. Chelsea have currently sent 26 players out on loan, the most in the Premier League. After the international break, Diego Costa was named Player of the Month for August after scoring four goals in three games and sending Chelsea to the top of the table.
On 13 September, Chelsea played their second game of the season at Stamford Bridge against Swansea City. Chelsea won the game 4–2 with Costa scoring his first hat-trick for Chelsea and Rémy scoring on his debut.
Chelsea began their 2014–15 Champions League with a 1–1 draw at home to Schalke 04. Fàbregas grabbed his first Chelsea goal but it was cancelled out by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who scored with 28 minutes left to secure a point for Schalke. Chelsea dropped their first points of the season. Chelsea dropped their first points of the 2014–15 Premier League season as they drew 1–1 to reigning champions Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium. In a close fought-encounter, Pablo Zabaleta was sent off after 66 minutes, giving Chelsea the advantage and allowing Schürrle to givethe Blues the lead. With only five minutes to go, Chelsea looked like they were going to stretch their winning run to five games, however former Blues vice-captain and all-time record goalscorer Frank Lampard equalised for City in the 85th minute. Despite the draw, Chelsea still remained three points clear at the top of the table on 13 points.
In Chelsea's next match, they knocked Bolton Wanderers out of the League Cup third round after winning 2–1 thanks to a debut goal from defender Zouma and a strike from Oscar. The result meant Chelsea faced Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup fourth round. Chelsea's last game in the league for September came against Aston Villa, a game which was won 3–0, meaning they finished September at the top of the table. It was announced that Chelsea had enquired about temporarily relocating to Twickenham Stadium whilst redeveloping Stamford Bridge. The final game of the month was in the Champions League against Sporting CP in Portugal. Nemanja Matić scored the only goal of the game, giving Chelsea a 0–1 win and leaving them top of their group
October
Chelsea began October with a derby match and a 2–0 victory over local rivals Arsenal. A first half penalty by Eden Hazard and the ninth goal of the season for Diego Costa sent the Blues five points clear at the top of the table ahead of the international break.
Chelsea preserved their five-point lead at the top as they defeated Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, 1–2. Three days later, they continued their form into the Champions League defeating Maribor 6–0 at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Rémy, Drogba, Terry an own goal and two from Hazard sent Chelsea on their way to secure a record Champions League win, which also maintained their unbeaten start in all competitions this season. On 22 October, Chelsea's chief executive Ron Gourlay left the club, having held the position since 2009.
Chelsea drew for the second time in the league season away to Manchester United. Drogba's powerful header gave the Blues the lead, but a last minute equaliser from Robin van Persie meant the sides shared the points. The result rendered Chelsea four points clear of second-placed Southampton at the end of October.
Diego Costa, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard were among the nominees for the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or, while José Mourinho was nominated for the 2014 FIFA World Coach of the Year.
In the Blues final game in October, they edged past League Two side Shrewsbury Town in the Football League Cup thanks to a third goal in three games from Drogba and an own goal. In the next round, they faced Derby County away.
November Chelsea's first game of the month came against local rivals Queens Park Rangers, a brilliant first half goal from Oscar and a second-half penalty from Eden Hazard gave Chelsea a 2–1 win. Four days later, Chelsea came from behind to draw away to Maribor, with Matić scoring 20 minutes from full-time to keep Chelsea top of the group.
Chelsea's unbeaten start continued as they defeated Liverpool 1–2 at Anfield. Emre Can gave the Reds the lead before goals from Gary Cahill and Diego Costa sent the Blues seven points clear before the international break.
A dominating performance against West Bromwich Albion sent kept Chelsea seven points clear at the top of the table, thanks to goals from Costa and Hazard. The Blues secured qualification for the Second round of the Champions League after hammering Schalke 04 0–5 at the Veltins-Arena. Chelsea's final game in November was a 0–0 stalemate away at Sunderland. Despite Chelsea failing to score for the first time in the season, they went six points clear of defending champions Manchester City at November's end.
December Chelsea bounced back from their 0–0 draw to Sunderland to defeat London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3–0 at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Hazard and Drogba, in for the suspended Costa, gave Chelsea a first half lead, before a goal from Rémy settled the game.
Chelsea suffered their first defeat of the 2014–15 season after losing 2–1 to Newcastle United at St James' Park. The Blues fell behind to two Papiss Cissé goals and Drogba pulled one back, but Mourinho's side failed to secure the equaliser as Manchester City closed the gap at the top to three points.
With the defeat to Newcastle behind them, the Blues defeated Sporting CP 3–1 at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Cesc Fàbregas, Schürrle, and John Obi Mikel sent Chelsea through to the next round as group winners. The Blues bounced back in the Premier League to regain a three-point advantage over Manchester City after dispatching Hull City 2–0 at Stamford Bridge with goals from Hazard and Costa.
Paris Saint-Germain faced Chelsea in the Champions League Round of 16. The first leg was held in Paris on Tuesday 17 February, and the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday 11 March. They faced each other in the 2013–14 Quarter Finals, where the Blues went through on away goals thanks to an 87th-minute goal from Demba Ba.