Chelsea big favourites to win Europa League final against Benfica
Published:Chelsea are well on course to claim their second European title in as many years after qualifying for the Europa League final in convincing fashion.
The Blues won their semi-final second leg 3-1 against Basel at Stamford Bridge as they swept aside the Swiss side 5-2 on aggregate.
They will now face Benfica in the final and have been installed as the big 4/5 favourites – and it’s easy to see why.
Rafa Benitez (who capped a good few weeks by being named Premier League Manager of the Month on Friday) has finally got his side playing as a cohesive unit and the consistency that’s been missing for so much of the season is finally there.
Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar have been at their fleet-footed best in recent weeks and David Luiz has contributed some bulldozing performances in the middle of the park and a couple of vital goals – not least his two against Basel.
Whilst, the Europa League is not a title they would’ve been hoping to win at the start of the season – it wouldn’t even have been on their trophy radar – the Blues should have more than enough to see off Benfica.
The Portuguese side also made it into the Europa League by virtue of exiting the Champions League at the group stages though and they will be no walkovers.
They currently lead the Portuguese league and have won six of their eight Europa League matches this season.
They are currently priced at 2/1 to defeat Chelsea but, with the undoubted quality the Blues have at their disposal, John Terry should end another season by lifting a European trophy.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
