Chelsea, Benfica Meet In 'Losers' Final

[Folami David]

When Chelsea and Benfica embarked on their European cup campaign in September, they were dreaming of Champions League glory. On Wednesday one of them will end their campaign with Europa League success.
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Both teams finished no better than third in their Champions League groups and as a result were relegated to the Europa League - considered by many to be an inferior competition.
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Nevertheless, Chelsea go into Wednesday's final in the AmsterdamArena on a high after having on Saturday all but guaranteed direct entry into next season's Champions League with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa, while Benfica lost their first league match of the season and saw Porto overtake them at the top of the Campeonato Nacional with just one game to go.
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The two teams met last year in the Champions League quarterfinal and Chelsea won both matches en route to their first-ever Champions League success.
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The Premier League side are again the favourites to win the trophy - a victory that would see them become just the fourth team in the history of European cup competition to win all three club competitions (the others being Juventus, Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich).
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Rafael Benitez, in his penultimate game in charge of the Blues, could be without former England skipper John Terry and Belgian international Eden Hazard, who picked up injuries in the win against Aston Villa.
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"To lose players like Terry, Hazard could be difficult but hopefully not because we have quality in the squad," said Benitez, who could become only the second coach to win the Europe League with two different clubs - the other being Giovanni Trapattoni.
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The Spaniard, who will see his future employment prospects greatly enhanced with a win on Wednesday, is confident Chelsea are well prepared for the match.