Been away from my computer for a while, so here goes my belated thoughts on the tie. Benfica's draw could've been better but it obviously could've been a lot worse. I make this draw a real 50/50, there is no question who's been having a better season and who's in better form, but this counts for nothing once the matches start, so anything could happen really. Chelsea's defence is a weakness (like ours too) so we must attack them heavily. I expect goals in this tie!

I will not under-estimate Chelsea despite the season they been having. They have been improving since AVB left, and are going through the immediate turn-around in form that teams with new coaches sometimes go through...Sporting are going through the same thing! The worries I have are that Chelsea have a physical and powerful midfield, which will attempt to bully our smaller and more technical players. This is the approach Porto always make against us in the last few seasons, and i expect Chelsea to attempt the same. Also the small congested pitch at Stamford Bridge makes it tough for technical teams like us to play their game there. Even Barcelona have struggled to play their normal rhythm at Stamford Bridge in the past.

The positive, I feel, is we have a more balanced team than they have, and have been playing much better football all season long. Chelsea's defence is a major weakness, particularly Luiz and Bosingwa...we have to attack that defence full-throttle, as Napoli did in their first match. Definitely 4-2-3-1 for both legs, I would say, to make sure our midfield doesn't get over-run. With regards to the English under-estimating us...let them do it, they always make the same mistake don't they? Both at international and club level, yet we always do well against them. Sporting, in 5th place in the Liga, deservedly knocked out Man City...yet they are still expecting Chelsea to cruise past Benfica. I hope they continue to be over-confident, it can only help us. So i say it's a 50/50 this tie, and we couldn't have asked for better odds than than that in a CL quarter-final! Forca SLB!!!!

Its going to be close. The key for me will be if Benfica can keep a clean sheet at home.

Best of luck chelsea,am proud to be a chelsea fans nd knw they can do it

just leave the net open and cover everyone but torres

This has to be utterly one of the most stupid lines of uneducated drivel I have ever read:

"but you stand almost no chance. Benfica will be battered and demolished.

UP THE BLUES"

And, might I ask, how do you exactly know? Do you have a crystal ball? Trolling like that is so intelligent.

What angers me the most about this is that I am a Sportunguista, I bleed green and white, but I also happen to be a huge Chelsea fan. It all started when Mourinho went to England and started coaching Chelsea. I didn't have an EPL team that I followed, as I only supported Sporting and the Seleccao, but I started watching all of Chesea's games and I became hooked. It has become a pleasure to watch Chelsea evolve from a "new money" club like Man City is now to an actual team that has built a good modern history with EPL titles, FA Cup and playing in the CL finals. Chelsea has become my "other" team and I am proud to say and have no shame in saying that I watch all of their matches and have quite the collection of Chelsea jerseys to match my Sporting jerseys.

That being said, it angers me to see stupid comments like this being made by other "Chelsea supporters" because you clearly have no understanding of the Portuguese league. I am lucky because I watch all of Chelsea's matches and because I watch all of Sporting's matches in the Portuguese league, I also watch when Benfica, Porto, Braga etc. play, so I have an understanding of what this tie might be like.

Benfica is a great team and I can tell you right now, they can knock Chelsea out of contention. This is coming from a Sportinguista who is also a Chelsea supporter, who happens to know both the Portuguese League and the EPL really well. Benfica are a huge institution with a great team, and as much as I want them to lose domestically, as a Portuguese individual, I respect them and I traditionally support them in European play.

Which leaves me with a massive quandary. I want the Portuguese League to acquire as many coefficient points as possible, and I traditionally support all Portuguese teams in Europe, including my rival Benfica. So what the hell am I to do in this tie? as I want Benfica to advance, except I don't want it to happen at the expense of Chelsea, a team I have supported for 8 yearst! Ugh

And before I get slack for it, In my opinion, it is completey acceptable to support two teams that play in different leagues. I bet most posters on this site have their "team of their heart" and their "other" team that they support. It's ok, you can admit it. :)

With respect to Metalist, I watched highlights of their game against Olympiakos last night. They started off very poorly with Olympiakos dominating possession and getting a torrent of great goal-scoring opportunities, but their finishing was poor. In the second half, and after being down one-nil, Metalist vastly improved and could have won the game by a bigger margin than the final 2-1 outcome were it not a missed penalty by Marko Devic and some equally poor finishing in general on several occasions.

Devic will be a player to watching against Sporting. He's got good speed and positional awareness. He made amends for missing the PK by stepping up to score the winning goal that put Kharkiv through.

As for Chelsea, I think Benfica's chances will depend on which Chelsea we see, the sluggish Chelsea whose midfield struggles to create goal-scoring opportunities and squanders it's goal-scoring chances or the type of Chelsea we've seen since AVB's departure.

Unfortunately for Benfica Chelsea will be boosted by the nature of the comeback against Napoli and given that they are currently fifth in the Premiership, they will be especially motivated to succeed in the CL. That being said, I still like Benfica's chances. Both Lisbon teams in fact have a great chance to advance, which is good news for the Portuguese club coefficient.

but you stand almost no chance. Benfica will be battered and demolished.

UP THE BLUES

All the media here in England are saying what a good draw it is for Chelsea. They seem to think they are in the semis already hearing some of the comments and looking forward to playing Barcelona.

Maybe they will underestimate SLB like Man City did to Sporting. Or like Man Utd have done with pretty much everyone in Europe this season...

I'm very satisfied with Benfica's draw and think we have a fair chance of defeating Chelsea. It can also help us prepare better against Barcelona or Milan if we are fortunate enough to make the semis. This is the stage were officials begin to influence matches but I have faith in our team.

Sporting got the easiest of teams left in the Europa league and I'm confident they will atleast reach the semi finals now. It's a nice break after against all odds eliminating Man City.

Let the games begin.

Força Benfica

I was praying that Benfica would avoid Barca, Madrid, and Bayern so I'm so happy that they got Chelsea. Apoel on paper are the worst team in the quarter finals, but they are extremely well organized defensively. Benfica thrive in open games so they definitely have a great chance of beating an extremely inconsistent and vulnerable Chelsea. In modern times, Benfica may not be as famous as Chelsea, and we definitely don't have their money, but in terms of history and current form, we should be considered favorites.

I am also pleased to see that we are playing the winners of Barca/Milan. I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but if we beat Chelsea and Milan upset Barca, I could definitely see us upsetting Milan and making the final. If we end up playing Barca, we'll need a miracle.

Sporting also has an excellent draw. To be honest, I've never even heard of Metalist Kharkiv, but no team should be underestimated. Sporting definitely got lucky in this draw, and if they advance they would face a very difficult challenge in the semis. However, in futebol, anything is possible.

Both Benfica and Sporting have a great chance of making the semis in their respective tournaments. Hopefully both clubs will make us Portuguese proud!

FORCA BENFICA!!!!!

FORCA SPORTING!!!!