Benfica - Chelsea Final: The Glory of the English
If Chelsea overcome Benfica in the final at the Amsterdam ArenA stadium (Netherlands) tonight to win the Europa League, they will not only salvage a disappointing season, but also save the honor of English football.
This season, Chelsea have gone through many difficult moments, becoming the first Champions League champions to be eliminated in the group stage.
Then, they had to watch sadly as Corinthians lifted the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup trophy.
In the domestic arena, Chelsea was also eliminated in the League Cup, FA Cup and only ranked third in the Premier League.
After those poor results, Chelsea now has only one goal - winning the Europa League to save the empty-handed season.
Not only that, they also carry the task of saving the honor of the English people, in a year when no representative of the Premier League has reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
If Chelsea wins against Benfica in the final (1:45 a.m. on May 16), they will not only complete that "mission", but also make history by becoming one of four teams to win all three European championships along with Bayern, Juventus and Ajax Amsterdam.
The Europa League title can also be seen as a sweet farewell for Rafael Benitez - who has endured a lot of public criticism since he arrived at Stamford Bridge to replace Di Matteo as "interim manager."
Expected lineup
Benfica (4-3-3):Moraes - Pereira, Luisao, Garay, Almeida - Gaitan, Perez, Lima - Salvio, Cardozo, Matic.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1):Cech - Azpilicueta, Luiz, Ivanovic, Cole - Lampard, Ramires - Oscar, Mata, Moses – Torres.
Referee:Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)
The statistics
Confrontation
- Chelsea won both legs of last season's Champions League quarter-final (1-0 in Lisbon and 2-1 at Stamford Bridge).
- This will be Benfica's ninth European Cup final and Chelsea's only fifth. However, in terms of the number of titles, The Blues are leading 3-2.
- The last time Benfica won a European title was in 1962, beating Real Madrid 5-3 in the European Cup final (losing six consecutive matches after that).
Data collected
- Chelsea have scored 31 goals in European competition this season (16 in the Champions League and 15 in the Europa League).
- Benfica scored 19 goals (5 in the Champions League and 14 in the Europa League), in return they only conceded 12 fewer goals than Chelsea (19).
- Chelsea could become the first team to win two consecutive European Cups in two years (last year the Blues won the Champions League).
- Chelsea could also become the fourth club to win all three major UEFA trophies (Juventus, AFC Ajax and Bayern Munich). Chelsea won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970/71 and 1997/98, and the UEFA Champions League last season.
Penalty shootout record
- Benfica's record (1 win and 1 loss)
+ Won 4-1 against PAOK FC, 1999-2000 in UEFA Cup
+ Lost 5-6 to PSV Eindhoven, 1987-88 European Cup final.
- Chelsea's record (1 win and 2 losses)
+ Won 4-3 against Bayern, Champions League final 2011-12.
- Lost 5-6 to Manchester United, 2007-08 Champions League final
- Lost 1-4 to Liverpool, Champions League semi-final 2006-07.
According to (Vietnam+) - DT
