Chelsea beat FC Basel to secure spot in Europa League final
Chelsea came from behind to score three goals in nine second-half minutes to secure their place in the Europa League final, after a 4-2 aggregate win against Basel in the semi-final at Stamford Bridge.
The opening goal came after a period of Basel pressure and followed a near-miss from Marco Streller who volleyed wide after 26 minutes.
They made the breakthrough when captain Valentin Stocker sliced apart the Chelsea defence with a perfectly weighted ball for Salah to collect, beat the offside trap and score.
But a rampant performance after the break saw the Blues put Murat Yakin’s side to the sword, with Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and David Luiz all scoring in 10 action-packed minutes before the hour mark.
Luiz’s strike was a particular delight, vindicating Benitez’s decision to play him as a midfielder, where his ability on the ball is put to greater effect than his tendency to get caught out of position.
Chelsea now bid to become the first side to win Europe’s secondary club competition the year after claiming the Champions League title, although they have a tough test in Luiz’s former employers Benfica in Amsterdam on May 15.
Basel, meanwhile, miss out on the opportunity to be the first Swiss side in a major European final.
About 1st4FootballTickets.com: Thousands of football tickets are on sale on Europe's biggest football ticketing website: We have English Premier League tickets such as Arsenal tickets, Liverpool FC tickets and tickets for Chelsea FC. But also football cup tickets such as Europa League Final 2013 Tickets and FA Cup Final tickets.
The opening goal came after a period of Basel pressure and followed a near-miss from Marco Streller who volleyed wide after 26 minutes.
They made the breakthrough when captain Valentin Stocker sliced apart the Chelsea defence with a perfectly weighted ball for Salah to collect, beat the offside trap and score.
But a rampant performance after the break saw the Blues put Murat Yakin’s side to the sword, with Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and David Luiz all scoring in 10 action-packed minutes before the hour mark.
Luiz’s strike was a particular delight, vindicating Benitez’s decision to play him as a midfielder, where his ability on the ball is put to greater effect than his tendency to get caught out of position.
Chelsea now bid to become the first side to win Europe’s secondary club competition the year after claiming the Champions League title, although they have a tough test in Luiz’s former employers Benfica in Amsterdam on May 15.
Basel, meanwhile, miss out on the opportunity to be the first Swiss side in a major European final.
About 1st4FootballTickets.com: Thousands of football tickets are on sale on Europe's biggest football ticketing website: We have English Premier League tickets such as Arsenal tickets, Liverpool FC tickets and tickets for Chelsea FC. But also football cup tickets such as Europa League Final 2013 Tickets and FA Cup Final tickets.
