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| Tuesday, 03 April 2012 20:34 |
Chelsea v Benfica previewJorge Jesus: “We have the ability to win” If Jorge Jesus manages to transmit his pre-match press conference optimism to his players, Benfica will run out onto the Stamford Bridge pitch tomorrow confident of obtaining the result they need to reach the Champions League semi-finals. Despite a 1-0 deficit and injury problems, the Benfica coach is adamant “the tie is not over.”
As Jesus was at pains to point out, Benfica have not failed to score in any of their six Champions League matches played away from Lisbon this season. Curiously, against the two weakest sides they faced - Trabzonspor and Otelul Galati - the Eagles found the net just once. But in their away fixtures at Twente, Basel, Manchester United and Zenit St. Petersburg, Benfica scored two goals on each occasion. “Chelsea have the advantage because of the goal in the first leg. But we have the ability to win this game. If we enjoy the same luck Chelsea had in Lisbon, we will come out winners,” reasoned Jesus. Braga boostBenfica go into the match of the back of a morale-boosting victory over Braga at the Estadio da Luz on Saturday night. A stoppage time winner from Bruno Cesar kept the Eagles right in the hunt for the Portuguese championship. The improved performance level of the Brazilian, along with another star midfielder Nico Gaitan, who together fabricated the dramatic winning goal, will have fuelled the hopes of the 3,000 Benfica fans making the trip to London.“The goal (against Braga) gave us a big lift. The team did well in our last game, and we are confident we can win. We’re focused. We know Chelsea have a lot of quality, but we have our weapons,” said Cesar, who has two Champions League goals to his name, both scored in away matches. Chelsea’s formidable home recordWhile Benfica can draw confidence from their previous away games in this year’s competition, the same can be said of the Londoners in relation to their home record. The Blues have won four out of four at The Bridge, scoring a thumping 17 goals in the process.Going back further in history, the Portuguese side will be hoping they can emulate their two previous experiences against London teams in Europe’s premier competition. In 1961/62 the Eagles got the better of Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 on aggregate, while in 1991/92 a memorable performance at Highbury saw Benfica - who started the night trailing on away goals - beat Arsenal 3-1 to make progress. Makeshift defenceTo do something similar, Benfica are likely to require some heroic performances, not least from whoever is chosen at the heart of their defence. Centre-backs Ezequiel Garay, Jardel and Miguel Vitor are all out injured, while captain and defensive lynchpin Luisao is also a doubt having limped through the final moments of the Braga match on Saturday. Javi Garcia will drop back into central defence, and if Luisao does not play he will likely be partnered by either Emerson (with Capdevila coming in at left-back), or former Chelsea player Matic. While Benfica will have to reshuffle at the back, from midfield forward they will be confident they can do Chelsea some damage. Midfield playmaker Pablo Aimar should be well rested after missing the weekend match through suspension. The wonderfully talented Argentine, along with a strong supporting cast in the shape of Gaitan, Cesar and Witsel, will be hoping to supply the bullets for Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo to continue his good record against Premier League opposition. Cardozo has scored seven goals in six games against English teams in Europe. Exciting young strikers Rodrigo and Nelson Oliveira will almost certainly start on the bench, but either or both could play a decisive role later on in the match. Jorge Jesus has never wavered from his attacking philosophy, and Benfica recently ended a match against Olhanense with four strikers on the pitch, albeit to no avail. Should Benfica pull it off, they will reach the last four of the competition for the first time since 1989/90. Likely Benfica XI*: Artur, Maxi Pereira, Luisao, Javi Garcia, Emerson, Matic, Witsel, Bruno Cesar, Pablo Aimar, Nico Gaitan, Oscar Cardozo *Assuming Luisao is passed fit to play by Tom Kundert Follow PortuGOAL on Twitter and Facebook |
.. bom mas jogamos muito bem e viva o Benfica!
As mentioned above, Benfica are missing a few players and - unless they get an early goal and Chelsea get the heebie-geebies - I think they're on their way out. It's never over until fat ladies (or Fat Frank Lampard...) sing, but my money's firmly on Chelsea getting the result they need. Would love to be proved wrong, though...
This is a sum up of my thoughts about tonight, after the first leg I definitely believed we could still turn it around in London, and with the morale booosting win over Braga on the weekend, even more so! However this centre-back crisis has changed things an awful lot. We were already fragile defensively all season, and with 3 of the 4 centre-backs missing (possibly all 4!)...ouch, this is a real tough ask now.
If Luisao is also not able to play tonight, forget all about it folks, we'll be going out! And of course Emerson is almost certainly going to return to left-back and that will hurt us even more...it's amazing how some posters on this site actually still think Emerson is the better option for left-back than Capdevila, very strange!!
After the first leg, i thought we had to go 4-4-2 at Stamford Bridge to go for goals. I thought Rodrigo should play alongside Cardozo. But again this defensive crisis has changed things around, it's probably a better option now to stick with 4-2-3-1 to make sure our make-shift defence isn't completely exposed. Quite a few of our key players are going to have to play the game of their lives if we are going to pull the rabbit out of the hat and win tonight, considering all the absentees in the defence.
The good thing is though, as others have pointed out. There are positives whether we win or lose..the semi-finals again would be great...but of course 2 matches against the best team in Europe would be draining and might well cost us the Liga title. So going out tonight would not be terrible for us, but would still be disappointing for sure. I just hope we put on a good display tonight whatever happens, and give a good account of futebol portugues!! FORCA!!!
Facing Barca will be a monumental task, and a massive distraction from the league. It would probably cost them their chance at reclaiming the domestic title. The sad thing is even if they did play their best football, we've seen that refs have a tendency to make sure Barca win that 2nd leg at home.
IMO if Benfica does get that result against Chelsea i'd like to see them concentrate on the Liga, and not expend all their energy and will power on the CL. Easier said than done, but just take the money and run!
If a penalty is called, it will be awarded to Chelsea.
Sooner or later I knew Uefa would step in and so they have awarding 2 soft penalties to Barcelona. We know what lies ahead for Benfica-Chelsea and Real Madrid have only once overcame it.
So everything points to a Benfica loss here.. it will take something special for them to win. Still I'll be all out rooting for them. Making the semi's would boost coefficient and provide a nice revenue.. satisfying enough considering the teams left in the competition.
I admit in being very disappointed with the first leg, but everything is up for grabs now.
Not having Luisao at full strength or not at all will hurt. But maybe it will provide an even bigger sense of urgency and concentration.
Jon, the Champions League Title should always be our priority. If that's the case we will always content for and win the league title.
Much too soon to speak about Barca and how they're a bad match up for anyone but the faith and belief will always be there.
If Benfica are at their best, we can definitely beat an over-rated Chelsea. Chelsea isn't even close to the likes of Barca, Real Madrid, or even Bayern in terms of quality, and in all honesty, I don't think they're any better than Benfica.
My prediction: Benfica wins 2-1. Cardozo scores a penalty at the end.
May the best team win!