The Champions league match against Benfica on Wednesday was a nerve wracking one.Chelsea had a 1-0 lead going into the match and that too an away goal.It was pretty simple that either we should draw or win the match to qualify for the semifinal.
The match started on a bright note as Benfica started to gain possession and playing some beautiful football.The first four minutes saw Chelsea defending as a series of Benfica attacks were coming.It was a torrid time and a goal at that moment definitely would have boosted Benfica's confidence,but Chelsea survived.
Then Chelsea started to play as they want and were holding on and looking for the counter attack and that lead us to first goal. Ashley Cole receiving a good ball in the opposition penalty area from John Terry and he just managed to commit a foul from Javi Garcia.Lampard managed to beat the keeper and we were ahead 2-0 on aggregate.
A great start and we were building on confidence but Pablo Aimar was the bright spot from Benfica leading series of attack to Chelsea and caused Chelsea various problems.But then came the turning point of the game, a red card to Maxi Pereira for a challenge on Mikel and Benfica ended the half with ten men.
The second half started on a great note with Chelsea waiting to punish Benfica on the counterattack.With ten men Benfica would have given up but they played with same flair and looking dangerous on several occasions.Chelsea too missed handful of chances to put the tie beyond Benfica and how on earth Ramires missed a simple chance when he just only had to make some sort of contact.
But as the match progressed Chelsea paid the price for missing those chances as Garcia headed from the corner and with five minutes remaining it would have been a long five minutes.
Benfica were throwing everything at Chelsea and had a good chance of winning the match but at the injury time Raul Meireles put the tie beyond Benfica by scoring a great goal and put Chelsea in the semifinal against the mighty Barcelona.
It would be a great match against Barcelona and Barcelona would be favourite but who knows its a semifinal and anything is possible.We play Wigan on Saturday and then have a match against Fulham on Monday followed by FA Cup semifinal match against Tottenham and Champions League match against Barcelona.
So the matches are coming thick and fast and Di Matteo would used his rotation policy to overcome the fatigue and keep the players fresh as every match is important and a must win game.
Watch Chelsea vs Benfica Highlights here:-
The match started on a bright note as Benfica started to gain possession and playing some beautiful football.The first four minutes saw Chelsea defending as a series of Benfica attacks were coming.It was a torrid time and a goal at that moment definitely would have boosted Benfica's confidence,but Chelsea survived.
Then Chelsea started to play as they want and were holding on and looking for the counter attack and that lead us to first goal. Ashley Cole receiving a good ball in the opposition penalty area from John Terry and he just managed to commit a foul from Javi Garcia.Lampard managed to beat the keeper and we were ahead 2-0 on aggregate.
A great start and we were building on confidence but Pablo Aimar was the bright spot from Benfica leading series of attack to Chelsea and caused Chelsea various problems.But then came the turning point of the game, a red card to Maxi Pereira for a challenge on Mikel and Benfica ended the half with ten men.
The second half started on a great note with Chelsea waiting to punish Benfica on the counterattack.With ten men Benfica would have given up but they played with same flair and looking dangerous on several occasions.Chelsea too missed handful of chances to put the tie beyond Benfica and how on earth Ramires missed a simple chance when he just only had to make some sort of contact.
But as the match progressed Chelsea paid the price for missing those chances as Garcia headed from the corner and with five minutes remaining it would have been a long five minutes.
Benfica were throwing everything at Chelsea and had a good chance of winning the match but at the injury time Raul Meireles put the tie beyond Benfica by scoring a great goal and put Chelsea in the semifinal against the mighty Barcelona.
It would be a great match against Barcelona and Barcelona would be favourite but who knows its a semifinal and anything is possible.We play Wigan on Saturday and then have a match against Fulham on Monday followed by FA Cup semifinal match against Tottenham and Champions League match against Barcelona.
So the matches are coming thick and fast and Di Matteo would used his rotation policy to overcome the fatigue and keep the players fresh as every match is important and a must win game.
Watch Chelsea vs Benfica Highlights here:-
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