Europa League Final 2013: Chelsea vs Benfica: Chelsea eyeing another piece of silverware as Benitez is set to depart
Ozren Podnar
An unprecedented event is unfolding in the Premier League: the three top-placed clubs are about to change managers at the same time. Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea will doubtlessly enter the next season with new guys in charge instead of Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini and Rafael Benitez.
Chelsea is one step away from another unprecedented achievement: winning a Champions League and a Europa League trophies back to back in that order. If they defeat Benfica on Wednesday in Amsterdam, Chelsea would become the first club to win the Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) immediately after the Champions League (previously the European Champions Cup).
Two clubs have picked up those two trophies in consecutive seasons, but not in the sequence in which Chelsea would by beating the Lisbon Eagles. Liverpool and Porto managed that, but they won the UEFA Cup first. In fact, it was impossible for a team to compete in the UEFA Cup immediately after winning the European Cup.
Though the reigning continental champions were allowed to defend their crown the next season, they were not transferred to the UEFA Cup if they happened to be eliminated from the premier competition. Any team knocked out at an early stage, whether it was Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, Milan or Real Madrid, had to wait until the next season to get another shot at European glory.
Benfica's odds dip after League upset
Good of UEFA to have enabled the third-placed teams in the group stage of the Champions League to extend their European season beyond what was possible under the old format. Both Chelsea and Benfica have taken advantage of the improved formula, making the most of the second chance afforded them by the soccer authorities.
After narrowly bowing out of the Champions League last December, they have made it all the way to the finals in the Amsterdam Arena by overcoming some serious opposition.
Chelsea edged past three Eastern European rivals by a single goal on aggregate, before finally overpowering Basel - last season's conquerers of Manchester United - by winning both legs.
Benfica had an arguably harder road to Amsterdam, having had to deal with Bayer Leverkusen, Bordeaux, Newcastle and Fenerbahce, suffering only one defeat in the process, in the inferno of Istanbul's Sukru Saracoglu stadium.
The tougher rivals may have had something to do with Benfica's shocking meltdown in the past ten days, virtually ending their hopes of a magnificent treble. Their four-point advantage on top of the Portuguese league evaporated after a terrible slip-up at home against Estoril (1-1) and the injury-time loss to bitter rivals Porto (1-2) in the big game last Saturday.
The sensational left-footed goal scored by Kelvin in the 91st minute not only put Porto ahead of Benfica with one week to go but also sunk their moral just four days from the historic clash with Chelsea. Since Porto only need to beat Pacos Ferreira on the last day of the championship to clinch the title, millions of Benfica fans sense that a season promising to be the best in the club's history may end in agony.
Their fears are not unfounded, since Chelsea are not only a better team, but have been in better form over the past few weeks. Sealing a place in next season's Champions League with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa will undoubtedly boost Benitez Boys' confidence for the upcoming big event.
Also, Chelsea's experience in big occasions is light years ahead of Benfica's. The Lisbon Reds' two European Cup wins date back from the heyday of Eusebio and their next six continental finals between 1963 and 1990 ended in defeats.
Amsterdam ArenA - the venue for the 2013 Europa Cup Final
Benitez resigned as Mou edges closer
Which leads us back to the beginning of the story: Rafael Benitez may well bring another glamourous piece of silverware to Roman Abramovich, but his days at Stamford Bridge are most likely over, as was agreed in December when he was signed to replace Roberto Di Matteo.
"Next season Chelsea will have a new coach and I think you all know who that will be," said Benitez last week in a press conference, refering to Jose Mourinho, whom Abramovich has reportedly decided to bring back five and a half years after an accrimonious divorce.
It is ironic that the Russian owner is determined to get rid of Benitez just as the fans have started to like him after months of treating him as nothing but a long-serving Liverpool manager.
If Abramovich throws away such an obvious long-term managerial solution and goes ahead with the Mourinho job, he will prove that becoming super-rich does not require being smart. Specially if one became rich in the legal desert of the Russian transition.
Round of 32
Sparta Prague vs Chelsea 0-1, 1-1
Bayer Leverkusen vs Benfica 0-1, 1-2
Round of 16
Steaua vs Chelsea 1-0, 1-3
Benfica vs Bordeaux 1-0, 3-2
Quarter-finals
Chelsea vs Rubin Kazan 3-1, 2-3
Benfica vs Newcastle 3-1, 1-1
Semi-finals
Basel vs Chelsea 1-2, 1-3
Fenerbahce vs Benfica 1-0, 1-3
Finals (May 15th, Amsterdam Arena)
Chelsea vs Benfica
Benfica Curse
UEFA Cup - all the previous match reports, news and analysis from the old UEFA Cup.
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