Chelsea captain Reece James has admitted that his team didn’t take the UEFA Conference League seriously enough after they lost 2-1 to Legia Warsaw in the quarterfinal on Thursday.

Despite the defeat, Chelsea advanced to the semifinals with a 4-2 win on aggregate and will face Djurgården, having already secured a strong 3-0 advantage in the first leg.

Reece expressed disappointment over how his team approached the second leg, saying their lack of preparation showed.

"We had a 3-0 lead, maybe that played a part in taking our foot off the gas," James said. "We are making progress but that was not progress. If anything it was a step back.

"Maybe we disrespected the competition. If you don't prepare right, you will pay.

"It's going to affect the mindset. It's going to be in the back of people's heads. I understand the frustration. Fans come to see excitement, we were frustrating to watch."

Although Chelsea had already won the first leg, manager Enzo Maresca still fielded a strong team for the return match, starting Cole Palmer, Reece James, and Jadon Sancho.

Goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen, who also played in the first leg, made a costly error early in the game. His reckless challenge gave Legia Warsaw a penalty in the 10th minute, which Tomas Pekhart converted to put the Polish side ahead.

Chelsea equalized just before the 30-minute mark through left-back Marc Cucurella. The Spanish defender is currently the club's top scorer in 2025, as both Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson are struggling to score, going 15 and 12 games without a goal respectively.

Maresca agreed with Reece James' comments that the team underestimated Legia Warsaw but took a moment to commend the Chelsea fans for their support during the match.

"I didn't see any bad moments from the fans," Maresca said. "I already said after the last game we need to engage them, so it's what we have to do.

"We are not happy with the defeat, probably after winning the first leg 3-0 we tried to manage things a little bit, tried to avoid injury, rotate players with an important game on Sunday."