Blues have chance for yet more silverware against Benfica later this month.
‘Interim’ Chelsea head coach Rafa Benitez has urged his players to carry on the form that they displayed against FC Basel in the Europa League on Thursday night into their crucial four remaining Premier League matches of the season.
The west London club overcame their Swiss opponents 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final to earn a place in the final against Portuguese league leaders Benfica on 15 May at the Amsterdam ArenA 5-2 on aggregate.
And now the Spaniard wants his team to use that European momentum to help propel them towards a top-four finish in the Premier League come 19 May, starting at of all places Old Trafford against newly-crowned top-flight champions Manchester United this Sunday afternoon.
Currently, the Blues sit in third place in the league, just a point ahead of fourth-placed Arsenal and three points better off than fifth-in-the-table Tottenham Hotspur, albeit having played a game less than the Gunners.
“It is important to show this character and keep the momentum,” Benitez said in his post-match press conference after the Basel victory.
“We have difficult games left but hopefully we can do it.
“Now they realise how important every single game is. The reaction in the second half showed their character and now I think they will be like that until the end.
“To get three points in every game will be massive because we are so close. We have to do our job and hopefully other teams will make mistakes.”
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