Match Preview
Tonight, Chelsea return to the scene of one of their greatest ever heartbreaks, the Luzhniki Stadium. It is here where the Blues lost the 2008 Champions League final to Manchester United, thanks to a dramatic John Terry miss, and Rafael Benitez and his men will be hoping for fonder memories to look back on after tonight. With one foot firmly placed in the semi-finals of the Europa League, Chelsea will be hopeful of ending what has been an otherwise disappointing season with glory come May. Though it is the "other" European competition the Blues would have liked to have been involved in at this stage, the Europa League would represent a second European success in as many years. But they will know better than to underestimate Kazan, who, thanks to their away goal at Stamford Bridge last week, only need two unanswered goals to see them through, and Russia is always a difficult place to come for any team, especially when you have the sort of defensive crisis Chelsea are currently enduring. They will be without Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole and even Ryan Bertrand tonight, and will be relying on rookie Nathan Ake to put a shift in at left-back. They will also once more be without Demba Ba, who is cup tied, meaning the Blues will have to hope Fernando Torres finds his shooting boots. A tall order, especially as Rubin have secured seven shut-outs in this season's Europa League - a joint-competition-high alongside Newcastle.
Predicted Scoreline
Rubin Kazan 1-1 Chelsea I can see this game finishing 1-1. That will be enough to see the Blues through to the last 4 though they might make a difficult night of it, especially in the hostile atmosphere that comes with playing in Russia. All statistics courtesy of
sky sports