Europa League QF for Chelsea, Spurs and Newcastle NEWS
Whilst there is no English participation on the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League there are three Premier League teams, Chelsea, Spurs and Newcastle, still fighting for the Europa League trophy.
The respective coaches of Spurs and Chelsea are hoping for success in the Europa League to augment their domestic ambition of qualifying for next season's Champions League and, in Chelsea's case, the FA Cup, whilst for Newcastle they must balance their desire for European silverware with the absolute need to avoid relegation.
With home legs up first both Chelsea and Spurs must do their utmost to stop Rubin Kazan and Basel from scoring, preventing the opposition from nabbing an away goal often being more important than actually winning a home leg, when it comes first. Even a 0-0 home result would enable both teams to travel confident of being able to progress to the semi-finals.
With the kind of form they've been showing of late and with probably 'the' form player in European, if not World football, in their ranks (Gareth Bale if you can't work out to whom I'm referring) Spurs are one of the favourites to win the competition.
And, as reigning European champions, Chelsea can't easily be discounted as a side capable of lifting the Europa League trophy and with players of the class of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Oscar and Demba Ba they will be a difficult opponent for anyone.
Newcastle have the more preferable situation of their home leg coming second, but Benfica, who currently lead the Portuguese Primeira League will provide Alan Pardew's men with a stern test, and are probably regarded as the overall favourites for the tie. Newcastle need to keep themselves alive for the home leg and that means lots of defending in Lisbon.
Thursday 4 April
Benfica v Newcastle - 8.05pm ko at the Stadium of Light. Alan Pardew's men will travel to Portugal aiming to still be in the tie by the time they return to Newcastle so they'll be looking to nick an away goal and keep Benfica's scoring to a minimum. That sounds easier than it will be with their hosts not having lost at home since losing to Barcelona in October. They're cruising domestically and have netted 102 goals in all competitions so far this season. The Magpies hope to have goalkeeper Tim Krul and defender Davide Santon back in action but they'll be without Coloccini, Ben Arfa, Debuchy and Gouffran. Alan Pardew has sought the advice of Celtic boss Neil Lennon, whose team lost to Benfica 2-1 in Lisbon in the Champions League. I fear it will be in vain.
Chelsea v Rubin Kazan - 8.05pm ko at Stamford Bridge. After a disappointing league defeat to Southampton Chelsea got a massive lift by knocking man Utd out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage, courtesy of a superb Demba Ba goal at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately for manager Rafael Benitez Ba is cup-tied and cannot play in this competition for the Blues. Also missing will be defenders Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole, who look set to miss both legs against the Russians who are in a European quarter-final for the first time. Chelsea should win this game but they need to keep Kazan scoreless to progress to the semi's.
Spurs v FC Basel - 8.05pm ko at White Hart Lane. Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas is wary of their Swiss opponents and with good reason. Basel have a lot of European experience, having competed in the Champions League the past two years, eliminating Man Utd last year. Spurs however, have the superior squad, particularly with Gareth Bale in the form of his life. Spurs will miss striker Jermaine Defoe but welcome back Clint Dempsey. Tottenham also have midfielder Sandro and defender Younes Kaboul out injured, but have the depth to cope. I fancy Spurs to win this leg but have a sneaky feeling Basel will get the away goal to make the second leg very interesting.
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