Chelsea Face Benfica In Unfamiliar Battle

Benfica will play hosts to their English counterparts, Chelsea in first leg of UEFA champions league quarter final fixture tonight.

The tie has been tagged as ‘unfamiliar battle’ owing to the fact that the two clubs have never played each other in a competitive match before.

But Chelsea will go into the game with plenty of knowledge of Benfica, thanks to Ramires and David Luiz’s recent stints at the Portuguese club.

Benfica will hope to extend their unbeaten home streak when they face Chelsea in today’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg.

The Lisbon-based team have not lost at home for 10 matches in European competitions and Benfica’s coach Jorge Jesus will hope that form can help his side through to the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 1990.

Chelsea have not won away from home in this season’s Champions League.

Jesus will expect a lot of striker Oscar Cardozo, who is the only Benfica player to have reached double figures in goals so far this season.

Cardozo has scored four times in seven Champions League matches this season, including one in Benfica’s 4-3 aggregate quarter-final win over Zenit St Petersburg.

Chelsea reached the quarter-finals stage with a 5-4 aggregate victory against Napoli.

Benfica goes into the game second in Portugal’s Liga Sagres, one point behind FC Porto.

Jesus’ team drew 0-0 with seventh-placed Olhanense last Friday.

The Benfica manager started 32-year-old midfielder Pablo Aimar on the bench against Olhanense and the Argentine should be well-rested for the match tonight.

Chelsea also drew 0-0 over the weekend, having been held at home by Tottenham on Saturday.