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Benfica vs Chelsea Live
Date: Mar 27, 2012
Time: 2:45pm (US/Eastern)
Competition: UEFA Champions League
Live/Repeat: Live
Venue: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (da Luz) (Lisboa)
After failing to impress in the 2010-11 edition of the Champions League, Benfica have fared much better this time around, reaching the quarter-final stage for only the second time in the competition’s current format. The Portuguese club topped their group, finishing ahead of Basel, Manchester United and Otelul Galati, and in the round of 16 an impressive display at home allowed them to turn the tie around after they had suffered a 3-2 defeat against Zenit St Petersburg in the first leg.
Benfica’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals will largely depend on which team they get pitted against: APOEL and Olympique de Marseille should be perfectly within their reach, but any other side could prove too hot for them to handle.
Benfica coach Jorge Jesus wanted to face Chelsea and his dream has come true. The Portuguese side have never faced Chelsea before in European competition, but they have a good record against Premier League opposition in recent matches; they have lost just one of their last six fixtures against English teams. This is one of the best ties that Benfica could have asked for.
Having looked all but eliminated from the competition after a 3-1 first-leg defeat to Napoli last month, Chelsea remain as the only English side going into the last eight after an astonishing 4-1 victory in extra time to send the Italians out on Wednesday evening. The sacking of Andre Villas-Boas at the beginning of March appears to have acted as a catalyst at Stamford Bridge and now, with three wins out of three since Roberto Di Matteo replaced the Portuguese on an interim basis, the Blues will be brimming with confidence going into Friday’s draw.
Few expect Chelsea to challenge for the Champions League but with burgeoning confidence and a kind draw, Di Matteo will see no reason why his side can’t progress beyond the quarter-finals.
There will be smiles at Chelsea’s training ground today as the staff digest the news that the three favourites – Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – have been avoided in the quarter-final. Benfica are no mugs, of course. They emerged from the same group in which Manchester United finished third and were relegated to the Europa League, and drew 2-2 at Old Trafford last November.
In Nicolas Gaitan, Javi Garcia, Oscar Cardozo and Pablo Aimar, Benfica have some high calibre players. But Chelsea will still regard it as a winnable tie, allowing them to gather some momentum before a potentially momentous semi-final against reigning champions Barcelona.
