Chelsea vs Basel - Team News, Match Preview & Likely Line-Ups

Match Preview

rafa benitez chelsea Rafael Benitez is looking to lift the Europa League for the second time in his career, having already done so with Valencia in 2004, back when it was referred to in its old format as the Uefa Cup. The Spaniard is the only coach left in the competition to have lifted the trophy previously. Basel meanwhile will be looking to become only the first visiting team to win a European tie at Stamford Bridge since April 2011, the last team to have won here is Premier League champions Manchester United, as if the uphill task already facing the Swiss outfit needed further underlining. Murat Yakin's side have played six away matches in the Europa League so far this season and have won precisely none of them while Fernando Torres, who has yet to score in the Premier League this year, has been inexplicably fruitful in this competition with four goals to his name in his last 7 appearances. By reaching the final, Chelsea could join only a select few teams to have won both the Champions League and Europa League in reverse order, though having watched Bayern Munich - the side the Blues conquered in last year's Champions League Final - march through to the Wembley Final this May, there is little questioning which of the competitions they would rather be contesting later this month.
Contributor
Contributor

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.