LONDON: A revitalised Fernando Torres is expected to lead Chelsea’s attack on Wednesday when they try to sweep Benfica aside to claim their sixth Champions League semifinal appearance in nine years.
Torres, 28, who scored his first Premier League goal since September in Saturday’s 4-2 triumph at Aston Villa, has netted three times in the last four starts and is set to continue at the expense of the injured Didier Drogba.
The Spain striker’s renewed sharpness has helped boost Chelsea’s team spirit in recent weeks as he has provided a series of key assists including one for Salomon Kalou in the 1-0 quarterfinal first leg victory at Benfica last week.
“Strikers feed off goals but apart from that Fernando’s been playing very well, even without the goals, by assisting on other goals,” interim manager Roberto Di Matteo said.
Chelsea have lost just once in eight matches since Italian Di Matteo replaced the sacked Andre Villas-Boas last month.
The Londoners have won six of those games to rekindle ambitions in the Champions League, the FA Cup – they face Tottenham Hotspur in the semifinals of that competition later this month – and the Premier League where they occupy fifth place.
Chelsea will attempt to extend a 100 percent home record of four wins in the Champions League this season against Jorge Jesus’s team who knocked Braga off the top of the Portuguese league at the weekend.
Benfica are now second behind Porto.
Twice European Cup winners Benfica demonstrated their potential for an upset when they drew 2-2 at Manchester United in the group stages in November.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s prolific trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain are likely to sweep aside APOEL Nicosia in the Champions League on Wednesday, needing one goal to reach the 100 mark between them this season.
Jose Mourinho’s men had no time for sympathy as they won their quarterfinal first leg 3-0 in Cyprus last week, all but securing a semifinal place and ending tiny APOEL’s valiant first foray into Europe’s elite club competition.
The Cypriots failed to muster a shot on Iker Casillas’s goal in front of their own fans, and will face an onslaught from three strikers in rampant form at the Bernabeu.
APOEL will want to bow out of the Champions League with their heads held high, and will take some comfort from having held the Spaniards at bay for more than 70 minutes in the first leg.
They received a boost to morale with a 2-1 victory over bitter rivals Omonia Nicosia on Saturday, which left them second in the domestic league behind AEL Limassol.
“It is a very important win for us at a crucial stage of the league,” APOEL coach Ivan Jovanovic said. (Agencies)
