Chelsea began the league campaign under new manager Sarri with a "comfortable" 3–0 victory at Huddersfield Town,[2] with new midfielder Jorginho scoring a penalty on his debut, in between goals from N'Golo Kante and Pedro.

After Pedro and Alvaro Morata quickly established a firm Chelsea advantage, Arsenal fought back to level before the break before Marcos Alonso won it late for the Blues.

[6] This was followed by a trip to Greek outfit PAOK Salonika in the opening group stage contest of that season's UEFA Europa League, with Chelsea playing in the competition for the first time since winning it in 2013.

[13] October began with a narrow win over Hungarians MOL Vidi in the Europa League, with Morata scoring the game's only goal with twenty minutes to play.

[25] Chelsea, however, recovered well by securing top spot in their Europa League group with a dominant 4–0 win over PAOK Salonika, with Giroud scoring twice and Callum Hudson-Odoi getting his first senior goal in a convincing display to cap off November.

After Ruben Loftus-Cheek gave Chelsea a first-half lead, the hosts struck back with second-half goals from Raul Jiminez and Diogo Jota to claim a 2–1 win.

[29] However, despite being outplayed for large periods of the contest, a rocket-shot from Kante and a looping header from David Luiz sealed a memorable 2–0 win to ensure Chelsea's return to the top four.

[36] A disappointing goalless draw at home with Southampton was not the best way possible to start the new year,[37] but Chelsea soon secured their first win of 2019 after beating Nottingham Forest 2–0 in the FA Cup third round.

[40] Chelsea (in fourth) had the gap to fifth closed to three points after Arsenal won 2–0 in a one-sided London derby,[41] before beating Tottenham 4–2 on penalties after winning 2–1 in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final,[42] to set up a final against holders Manchester City.

[44] Chelsea only signed two players in January; the first was Juventus` Argentine forward Gonzalo Higuain, who arrived on loan for the remainder of the season, with an option to buy at the end.

[47] Chelsea returned to fourth after walloping Huddersfield Town 5–0 in the Premier League, with January signing Gonzalo Higuain scoring twice on his home debut.

[59] A stoppage-time equalizer from Eden Hazard earned them a point against Wolves,[60] before Olivier Giroud's first Chelsea hat-trick ensured a memorable 5–0 win away to Dynamo Kyiv, and an 8–0 aggregate victory.

[70] May began with a tense 1–1 draw away to German Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final, with Pedro lashing home an equalizer just before half-time.

[71] Chelsea then secured a top-four finish for the first time since 2017, after second-half goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, David Luiz and Gonzalo Higuain earned a 3–0 home win against Watford.

[72] Chelsea then faced Frankfurt in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final and, after taking the lead through Loftus-Cheek, were forced into extra-time after a second-half goal from Luka Jovic.

Cesar Azpilicueta had a goal disallowed for a foul on goalie Trapp in the build-up, before Eden Hazard scored the winning penalty in the shootout to send Chelsea to meet Arsenal's 7–3 aggregate winners over Valencia in the final in Baku, Azerbaijan.

After a tense first half of few openings, Olivier Giroud nodded Chelsea in front on 49 minutes,[81] and the team soon were ahead 2–0 after Pedro swept home on the hour mark.