Chelsea will attempt to succeed where Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur both failed when they tackle Swiss side FC Basle in the first leg of their Europa League semifinal on Thursday.
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Winners of last season's Champions League, Chelsea have had to make a priority of Europe's second-tier cup competition this term as opportunities for winning silverware have fizzled out around them.
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They are just two matches from the final in Amsterdam on May 15, but in Basle they face a team who sensationally knocked United out of last season's Champions League and put paid to Spurs in the last round of the Europa League.
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The current Swiss Super League leaders have also gone six home games without defeat in this season's competition.
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Complicating matters further is the fact that Chelsea's main priority is the battle to qualify for next season's Champions League.
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Having become the first defending champions not to progress beyond the group phase of the following campaign's competition, failure to qualify for next season's tournament would complete a startling fall from grace.
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The quest for a Champions League place was compromised on Sunday by a 2-2 draw at Liverpool that left the London club in the fourth and final qualifying berth.
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Given the intensity of the competition for a top-four finish in the league, Chelsea's extra-curricular activities in Europe threaten to take a costly toll, but goalkeeper Petr Cech says their dedication to the competition remains uncompromised.
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"We are in a position where we fight for everything," he said.
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"We have a lot of pressure playing in the Europa League because we obviously want to win it. Every league game we are in the fight for the top four places and it's very tight there."
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Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez has sought to keep his squad fresh by changing his starting line-up between each league and Europa League fixture, and he is likely to do so again at St Jakob-Park on Thursday.
Chelsea had a better game tonight. Basel messed up big time i must confess. Let's see who would qualify at the end of it all