Match Preview
Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez will be hoping to move one step closer to winning the only piece of silverware the Blues have left to compete for tonight as the ex-European champions travel to Switzerland for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final clash with FC Basel. By winning this competition, however, the Blues could become the first to win both of Uefa's top two club competitions in reverse order in successive seasons having won last year's Champions League. Benitez' men could also become only the fourth team in history to win all three of Uefa's major club competitions. The Blues, who won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1971 and 1998, plus last season's Champions League, would join only a select group including Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich in doing so. But Basel have form in eliminating opposition from England's capital, just ask Tottenham, who were eliminated by the Swiss on penalties in the quarter-final stage. Basel are also undefeated at home in this season's competition and have not lost in their last four meetings against English opposition. A tricky task then for Chelsea. Predicted Scoreline
FC Basel 1 - 0 Chelsea I predict Basel to draw first blood in tonight's first-leg semi-final clash, and a quiet night for Fernando Torres, who has four goals in his last three Europa League appearances.
Joseph Dempsey
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Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
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