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Key events
61 min: Caicedo mistimes a tackle and goes into the book. He’ll miss the next match if Chelsea progress.
60 min: Here’s some stat courtesy of DAZN. Benfica haven’t had a scoreless draw for 38 games. And that’s the only one they’ve had in their last 77. Don’t blame me for tempting fate, the cat’s already out of the bag.
59 min: Sanchez sends Delap away down the other end, and the striker wins a corner. From the set piece, Neto flashes a nothing ball through the box from the left.
57 min: … so having said that, Aursnes advances down the right. Sanchez expects a cross and comes off his line, so Aursnes goes for goal instead. Sanchez gets back to snatch the ball away from the bottom-right corner, and nearly carries it over the line, but swivels just in time. Nearly an opening goal out of nothing!
56 min: Di Maria tries to advance Benfica up the pitch but he’s eased off the ball. Nothing happening for the Portuguese side. Nothing much happening for Chelsea either, to be fair, but the men in red are totally blunt.
54 min: … Badiashile heads harmlessly over the bar.
53 min: Chelsea are pinning Benfica back. They’ve picked up the pace, like Cucurella said they would. Caicedo nearly releases Delap with a slide-rule pass down the left, but it’s deflected out for a corner. From which …
52 min: There are quite a few empty seats at the Bank of America Stadium. It’s not quite at Panthers-Falcons 2023 levels, but it ain’t full, that’s for sure. Still, the people who are there are happy. A shot of a chap in a Manchester United shirt tucking into a Bojangles box. Gotta love Bojangles, that is some tasty snack. If you’re going, mine’s a Cajun Chicken Filet Biscuit Combo, please, with Legendary Ice Tea, unsweetened.
50 min: Pavlidis lunges into a 50-50 in the middle of the park. A foul. He complains about its award, and talks himself out of the quarter-final if Benfica make it. He’s booked.
48 min: Caicedo looks to thread a shot into the bottom left from distance. Inches wide. Trubin probably had it covered, to be fair.
47 min: Chelsea are on the front foot immediately. Again. Palmer flashes a low cross into the middle from the left. Delap prepares to slam home, but Otamendi extends a leg and diverts the ball over for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
Chelsea get the second half underway. Benfica have made one change, replacing Schjelderup with Akturkoglu.
Marc Cucurella talks to DAZN during the break (!) and says: “We had chances … we tried to win the ball back fast … play with passion … maybe if I score one of my chances the game changes … the keeper made good saves … if we have passion and move the ball fast, we will have chances to score.”
Half-time entertainment. Brought to you by Carolina Panthers legend Sir Purr.
HALF TIME: Benfica 0-0 Chelsea
Trubin has made a couple of fine saves, and Silva has cleared one off the line. Chelsea have been the better side, but here we are. A reminder that this will go to extra time and penalties if necessary.
45 min +4: Palmer dribbles into the Benfica box down the left and shoots. Silva deflects out for a corner. But nothing comes of that.
45 min +2: Thankfully the sting has subsided quickly, and Caicedo is able to flex his knee. The physio seems happy with him, and the player is fine to continue. Phew.
45 min +1: Caicedo and Barreiro clatter into each other at high speed, both men leaning in for a loose ball. It’s an innocent collision, but Caicedo had one foot planted and immediately holds his knee. That hurt.
45 min: Schjelderup confuses James by dribbling fast down the left. He reaches the edge of the box and shapes to shoot, but James gets back into position and blocks. There will be three additional first-half minutes.
44 min: Chelsea pass and probe. Slowly. Benfica sit back. Both teams waiting to hear the half-time whistle and enjoy a cold shower.
42 min: Pavlidis makes good down the left and crosses in the hope of finding Di Maria in the middle. Badiashile gets in the road. A rare Benfica sortie into Chelsea territory.
41 min: Palmer plays a cute wedged pass down the left to release Cucurella, but the flying defender suffers a rush of blood and blooters his cross wildly over everyone in the centre.
39 min: Cucurella is found in space down the inside-left channel. He enters the box and shoots. Trubin sticks up a strong arm to deny him. That’s another fine save by Trubin, who was quite the star against Bayern.
37 min: A ball swung in from the Chelsea right. It drops to Delap on the edge of the D, but the striker loses his bearings, spinning around in search of the ball. The search is futile. Silva swans off with it. That would have been a big chance had Delap sorted himself out.
36 min: Lavia is skittled out on the left flank. The free kick’s worked towards Neto on the right, then back to Badiashile on the left. Cucurella tries to dink a pass down the channel to release Palmer, but clanks it into the nearest red shirt. “It feels weird to say this about Cucurella, but his shot (19 min) didn’t have enough curl.” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the vinegar-based BBQ sauce.
34 min: Chelsea seemed more eager to get going again, first back into position. And they’re quickly on the attack, Palmer threading a low shot towards the bottom-right corner. There’s not enough pace on it, though, and it’s easy for Trubin.
33 min: Water has been taken on. Tactical instruction given. Play restarts.
30 min: Anyway, about that temperature. It’s time for a Cooling Break™! The players trot off to the sidelines to take on some fluid.
28 min: James whips in a cross from the right. Cucurella rises in the middle, six yards out, but can’t plant the nut on the ball. Anything on that, and it was surely a goal. But just too high for the full-back.
27 min: The pace slows somewhat. Beau Dure is unlikely to be impressed: “I note that it’s 92 degrees F, with a ‘feels like’ of 98. That’s practically fall for us Southerners. I expect every player to cover at least 12 kilometers today.”
25 min: James clatters into Schjelderup as the Benfica man probes down the left. Schjelderup loses a boot. The referee has a quick word with Chelsea’s captain, but nothing more. Then from the resulting free kick, Di Maria tries to embarrass Sanchez with a looping shot from the sideline. A bit over-ambitious, even for a player as good as Di Maria. Sanchez plucks it from the sky without fuss.
23 min: Di Maria brings down a long ball with a feathery touch, then sets about twisting Cucurella’s blood down the right. But the flag pops up for offside. Chelsea breathe a sigh of relief, because Di Maria was surely going to slip past his man and cause all sorts of bother in the box.
21 min: Chelsea are getting closer and closer. Now Palmer has a go from a tight angle on the left. He belts it hard, but Trubin tips it around the post with a strong hand. Nothing comes of the corner.
19 min: Florentino over-elaborates in the midfield and is stripped by Lavia, who sets Delap off down the right. Delap cuts back for Cucurella, who takes a touch on the penalty spot, opens his body, and curls towards the top right. The shot’s good, but Silva has positioned himself on the line and heads off it! Wonderful football from Chelsea.
18 min: A cross comes into the Benfica box from the left. Neto heads down for Fernandez, whose attempt to sweep goalwards is blocked by Otamendi. That’s a crucial intervention, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
16 min: Lavia has the opportunity to release Cucurella on goal down the inside-left channel. But he overcooks the long pass, which flies out for a goal kick. As quarterbacking in this stadium goes, it’s more Jimmy Clausen than Cam Newton.
14 min: Cucurella, who would miss any quarter-final if booked tonight, comes through the back of Di Maria and is fairly fortunate not to go into the referee’s notepad.
13 min: Cucurella makes good down the left but his cut-back rolls behind Palmer in the middle. The wing-back had enough time to do better. Benfica go up the other end, and James takes liberties when shielding a ball weakly rolling back towards Sanches. Schjelderup nearly nips in, but there’s just enough energy in the ball for it to reach the keeper.
12 min: Badiashile dallies on the ball 30 yards from his own goal, and is stripped by Pavlidis. The defender’s fortunate that Colwill steps in to get in Pavlidis’s road. That could have been very costly.
10 min: Fernandez links up with Neto down the right, and sends a cross through the six-yard box. Nobody there to poke home. Cucurella and Palmer then combine down the left, but the latter’s low cross is smothered by Trubin. Chelsea are on top.
8 min: … nothing occurs. A short-taken waste.
7 min: Neto probes at speed down the right again. He knocks the ball past Dahl and backs himself in a footrace. He doesn’t quite win the race … but he does win a corner off the defender. From which …
5 min: … so having said that, Benfica show in attack themselves for the first time, Di Maria and Aursnes combining down the right. The latter can’t get the ball under control in the Chelsea box, and the flag goes up for offside anyway. But it’s a nice open start to this game.
3 min: Fernandez goes long again. Delap chases down the middle. He looks second best to Silva, but then turns on the jets and nearly overtakes the defender. Silva does just enough to shoulder Delap off the ball before the striker can take a shot, but the danger signs were flashing for Benfica once more. And we’ve hardly started. Chelsea will be delighted with this.
2 min: … so Benfica slow it down with a bit of passing around at the back.
43 seconds: Chelsea are immediately on the front foot, Neto chasing after a long pass down the right. He makes it all the way into the box, and whips a shot towards the bottom right. Trubin parries and claims, albeit in a slightly clumsy style. There’s an early statement, then.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, etc., … and then Benfica get the ball rolling. It’s hot in North Carolina, but there’s a breeze at least.
The players take to the pitch. They come out one by one, just as they did during the group stages. But these are the knockouts, surely it’s time to take the showmanship up a notch? Could the teams be persuaded to come out high-kicking like the Tiller Girls at the start of Sunday Night at the London Palladium? If Fifa are hell-bent on this ersatz showbiz glamour, they may as well go all-in. Latest score: Val Parnell 1, Gianni Infantino 0. Anyway, Benfica are in red, Chelsea blue. We’ll be off once the pre-match admin has been completed.
Enzo Maresca speaks to DAZN. “We are very motivated … to do our best and win the game … hopefully we can do that … when you play in this competition every three days … hopefully they can be fresh … very happy for Liam Delap … very happy for the team … hopefully he can score again today … Benfica are a very good team … they have some very good players … it will be a tough game.”
Benfica manager Bruno Lage talks to DAZN. “There are two ways to be confident … one is about the work we do every day … the other one comes from [the Bayern win] … our target was to go through the first stage … everything is possible … we believe it is 50-50 … belief … aggressive … win duels … strategy … we believe we can beat Chelsea … we are a top team.”
The prize on offer tonight is a quarter-final tie with Palmeiras in Philadelphia next Friday. Palmeiras won an epic stand-off with fellow Brazilians Botafogo earlier this afternoon; Rob Smyth tells that story in the time-honoured minute-by-minute style.
Chelsea make seven changes to the team that started the easy win over Espérance Tunis. Robert Sánchez, Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer, Moisés Caicedo and captain Reece James are back; Filip Jörgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Josh Acheampong, Malo Gusto, Noni Madueke and Christopher Nkunku drop to the bench. Enzo Fernández, Roméo Lavia, Benoît Badiashile and Liam Delap are the only players to remain in the starting XI. There, that’s everyone mentioned.
Benfica make just two changes after their 1-0 win over Bayern Munich. Orkun Kökçü and Florentino replace Gianluca Prestianni and Renato Sanches, who drop to the bench. Their starting line-up includes a couple of Premier League old boys in the shape of Nicolas Otamendi and Angel Di Maria, once of Manchesters City and United respectively, while they’re managed by former Wolves boss Bruno Lage.
The teams
Benfica: Trubin, Aursnes, Dahl, Antonio Silva, Otamendi, Florentino, Barreiro, Kokcu, Pavlidis, Di Maria, Schjelderup.
Subs: Ferreira, Carreras, Bajrami, Wynder, Santos, Oliveira, Prioste, Rego, Veloso, Luis, Bruma, Belotti, Akturkoglu, Gouveia, Prestianni.
Chelsea: Sanchez, James, Cucurella, Badiashile, Colwill, Caicedo, Palmer, Lavia, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Delap.
Subs: Slonina, Penders, Adarabioyo, Chalobah, Gusto, Sarr, Anselmino, Acheampong, Dewsbury-Hall, Essugo, Santos, Nkunku, Madueke, Guiu, George.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
Preamble
If history is any guide, we might as well anoint Chelsea the winners of this tie right now and be done with it. The victors obvious. An early night. Let’s go to bed. Because not only do Chelsea have a 100-percent record against Benfica, three wins out of three, the most notable of which being this Rafa-infused banger in 2013 …
… but there’s the ghost of Béla Guttmann to consider as well. Benfica are famously doomed abroad, having denied their two-time winning European Cup manager a pay rise in 1962, forcing him to spit as he stormed out of the exit door: “Not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever win a European Cup!” Oh Béla. Oh Benfica. They’ve played eight major European finals since, one of them being the aforementioned Benitez-flavoured failure, and lost the lot. This isn’t a club with the wind behind when it comes to tournaments like this.
But then, this is not Europe. So perhaps the Club World Cup is the perfect platform upon which to snap their miserable international run. And their tails will be up after beating Bayern Munich on Tuesday. Only problem is, upwardly mobile Chelsea are still high on life after their Conference League success, so will fancy their chances of making it four from four against the Eagles of Lisbon, one step closer to repeating their success in a tournament they first won just three years ago. Neither team is perfect, so this is set up nicely. Kick-off at the home of the Carolina Panthers is at 9pm UK time, 4pm local. It’s on! Keep pounding!
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