We got there in the end, huh. Jacob Steinberg was in Charlotte and his report has landed. Here it is. Congratulations to Chelsea – who maintain their 100 percent record against tonight’s opponents – commiserations to Benfica, and thanks to you for sticking with us into the wee small hours. Nighty night!
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Enzo Maresca speaks to DAZN. “Very proud … the performance was top until 85 minutes … the start was a completely different game … when you are inside more than one hour it is not easy … but at 1-1 we continued to play … it was very difficult … we tried to keep them in the best way we could … we are in the last eight and we are happy … the free kick before the penalty was not a foul … it is better not to talk about the referee … we need to recover our energy and go again.”
Moises Caicedo has been named Superior Player of the Match. It’s not all good news for the Chelsea midfielder though: he’ll miss the quarter final against Palmeiras after picking up a yellow card tonight.
Chelsea celebrate their hard-fought, long-awaited victory. They thoroughly deserved it over the piece, only coming off second best during the almost psychedelic ten-minute period at the end of regulation time after the weather delay. They were the better team before the enforced break, and the best in extra time too. The last period of extra time was one step too far for Angel Di Maria, who was swept off the ball for Chelsea’s game-clinching third goal, and whose career at Benfica comes to a close with defeat tonight. Chelsea will play Palmeiras in the quarters in Philadelphia late next Friday.
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EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Benfica 1-4 Chelsea
Four hours and 39 minutes after kick-off, we have ourselves a result! Chelsea are in the quarter-finals.
ET 30 min +1: … though he’s still on point enough to give Gouveia a yellow card for one last foul.
ET 30 min: A cross into the Benfica box from the right. Dewsbury-Hall prepares to bring it down, and is shoved unceremoniously in the back by Gouveia. Had this match still been level, a penalty would surely have been awarded. But here we are, so the ref lets it slide. Benfica have suffered enough. There will be one added minute.
ET 28 min: Colwill is replaced by Anselmino.
GOAL! Benfica 1-4 Chelsea (Dewsbury-Hall 117)
From the Benfica corner, Sanchez plucks Silva’s header from the sky. He blooters long, looking for Nkunku, alone on the halfway line. He brings the ball down – he can’t be offside, just in his own half – and lays off to Palmer, who sends Dewsbury-Hall clear down the middle. He dinks, he scores. It’s over!
ET 26 min: Veloso crosses long from the right, forcing Tosin to turn out for a corner. From which …
GOAL! Benfica 1-3 Chelsea (Neto 114)
Di Maria is crowded off the ball in the centre circle. The ball’s instantly shifted to Neto, who tears clear down the inside-right channel. He enters the box, waits for Trubin to commit himself, opens his body, and curls confidently across the keeper and into the left-hand side of the net. So cool under the circumstances! Chelsea with one foot and four toes in the quarters!
ET 23 min: Chelsea try their best to slow things down with some sterile domination in the middle of the park. Smart play, using their extra man.
ET 22 min: Veloso sashays down the right and hits a low shot-cum-cross that Tosin is forced to slice over his own bar. Sanchez claims Di Maria’s corner. This is far from over.
ET 20 min: The Chelsea bench emptied to celebrate that goal. A lot of relief. Joy too, but given the way this match has gone since the delay, mainly relief. Can they hold on this time?
GOAL! Benfica 1-2 Chelsea (Nkunku 108)
Caicedo breaks into the Chelsea box down the left channel. He shoots low and hard towards the bottom left. Trubin parries but spills. The ball squirts towards the bottom-right corner. Nkunku can’t force home from a couple of yards, with Otamendi sliding in to block. But he spins around to meet the rebound, swivelling and roofing over the prone Otamendi and in!
ET 17 min: Cucurella drives down the left and wins a corner. Chelsea play it short, and Chalobah, in the middle, fumes. But the ball eventually comes into the box, and Nkunku touched on the shoulder by Dahl. He goes over and wants a penalty. He’s not getting one. But it doesn’t matter, because …
Benfica get the second half of extra time underway. No hanging around at the turnaround, with everyone hoping to get this wrapped up before the next wave of weather.
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Benfica 1-1 Chelsea
We’re closing in on penalty kicks.
ET 15 min: There will be one additional minute to this first period of extra time.
ET 14 min: Some space for Cucurella down the left. He should advance towards the box, but he’s no doubt exhausted, mentally as well as physically, and he cuts back instead, to nobody in particular. But the ball’s deflected out for a corner, from which Palmer rasps a shot straight at Trubin, who parries. Benfica counter, and Di Maria cuts in from the right, aiming a curler towards the far corner. Sanchez reads the intent. This is wild.
ET 12 min: Belotti is skittled by Colwill, and he’s the latest to go into the book. A fair chance this won’t end with 21 players still on the pitch.
ET 10 min: Di Maria and Belotti try to combine down the inside-right channel, with Chelsea once again short in defence, but over-elaborate. There’s a gloriously manic feel to this match now, almost as though all that electrical activity has messed with the receptors in everyone’s noggin.
ET 8 min: Neto crosses from the right. Dewsbury-Hall is lurking but Trubin comes off his line to claim.
ET 7 min: Gusto has a whack from distance but that one’s straight at the keeper as well.
ET 6 min: Belotti bombs down the middle of the park and slips the ball wide left to Akturkoglu, with Chelsea light at the back. Akturkoglu slams his shot straight at Sanchez.
ET 5 min: Chelsea have been given a boost by that dismissal. They’re on top again, showing the energy that was sadly missing for them after the post-delay restart. Had they snapped around then like they’re doing now, their work for the evening would already be over.
ET 4 min: Things threaten to boil over at the award of the second yellow. Palmer is booked for getting involved in the brouhaha. The resulting free kick comes to nothing.
RED CARD: Prestianni (Benfica)
ET 2 min: Dewsbury-Hall works his way down the left and crosses. Otamandi hacks clear. The ball breaks to Colwill, who is upended by Prestianni’s crude lunge. It’s a second booking, and he’s off.
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Chelsea get the first half of extra time underway. Quite a few of their players sporting a thousand-yard stare. They can’t believe they’ve let that slip. The penalty decision was fair enough; the free kick that led to it was pretty soft, mind.
FULL TIME: Benfica 1-1 Chelsea
Extra time it is, then! This is absurd. But will we beat the weather?
90 min +8: Akturkoglu makes good down the left and cuts back for Di Maria, whose first-time shot is blocked. Benfica with half a chance to snatch victory in the most outrageous of circumstances!
90 min +7: A cross from the Chelsea right finds Cucurella just to the left of the six-yard box. He can’t get a shot away, so cuts back for Caicedo, who screws an awful shot miles wide left. Chelsea look utterly shell-shocked.
90 min +6: Prestianni is booked for clipping Cucurella. Like he’ll care about that right now. What drama here!
GOAL! Benfica 1-1 Chelsea (Di Maria 90+5 pen)
Di Maria waits for Sanchez to commit himself, diving to his right. Di Maria slots straight down the middle, and the two-hour delay was worth the wait for Benfica!
Penalty for Benfica!
90 min +3: Otamendi had won a header just inside the box on the left, sending it back into the centre. Gusto was standing right next to him, half-turned, his arm in the air. The ball nicks off his hand, and the referee goes over to the screen. And it’s a penalty! Di Maria will have the chance to send this match into extra time!
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90 min +1: Di Maria dances in from the right and draws a foul from a clumsy Caicedo. It’s soft, and he’s looking for it, but Caicedo was daft to give the referee a decision to make. Di Maria sends it into the mixer. The ball’s cleared by Cucurella, at which point Benfica surround the referee. They want a penalty. Has the ball pinged off Gusto’s arm?!
90 min: Prestianni probes down the right but loses control and the ball flies through to Sanchez, who once again does his work in methodical fashion. There will be six added minutes.
89 min: Akturkoglu is clipped by Tosin out on the Benfica left. A free kick. Everyone lines up on the edge of the Chelsea box. Akturkoglu takes the set piece himself, and it leads to a brief game of head tennis before the whistle goes for an offside. Sanchez in no rush to restart, as the clock ticks on.
87 min: Benfica are buzzing around. Fast. They’ve no time to waste. Chelsea with everything to lose.
The game restarts
… with Chelsea in possession. Chelsea have made a change, replacing Lavia with Chalobah.
They’re worried more weather will come in, so the warm-up has been curtailed. We’ll be off again in a minute. “A lightning delay couldn’t strike twice, could it?!” Peter Oh again, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the Bojangles Cajun Chicken Filet Biscuit Combo.
It looks like plenty of fans have hung around for the restart. And that restart is scheduled for 7.45pm local time … which is only a couple of minutes away. Here we go, then…?
Chelsea are back out on the pitch. They’re warming up. And here come Benfica, too. Light at the end of the tunnel? Fingers: keep ‘em crossed.
“They’re coming back soon,” reports our man at the ground Jacob Steinberg. So that’s good news, right? Well, yes, but it’s qualified. “There’s another weather system coming, so I think the decision is simply to try to get it done.” Potential fiasco ahoy!
Some social-media shots of those aforementioned frustrated Chelsea players, mid-fume. When this match finally restarts, should they let Benfica equalise, the black clouds that caused the delay will have nothing on the steam that’ll pour freely from their ears.
Meanwhile, in the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/UZPsVkNvHr
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 28, 2025
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 28, 2025
There’s a rainbow forming over the Bank of England Stadium. A promising sign? Nope. “We’ve just heard it won’t resume until further notice,” reports Jacob Steinberg. Hey, if you’re frustrated, just imagine how Chelsea are feeling.
DAZN are reporting that “hopefully the players can go back out in less than 20 minutes.” At which point, they’d warm up for 15 minutes, and then we’d get going again. They also report that “Chelsea are annoyed … Cole Palmer has come out and asked what’s going on.” They’re in the dressing room bouncing off the walls, playing keepie-uppie and taking turns on exercise bikes.
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Jacob Steinberg reports another resetting of the clock, another delay. Nobody at the Bank of America Stadium is sure how long this might take to pass.
The clock has been reset again after more electrical activity in the area. So we’re another 30 minutes plus warm-up time away from the completion of this match. And there’s always the possibility of a Benfica equaliser, followed by extra time and penalties, so get burning that midnight oil. “Are we sure that last lightning struck the ground?” wonders Phil Rix, clutching at a large handful of straw. “Is there lightning VAR?”
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Let’s while away this delay with a dip into the postbag. “I lived in North Carolina for twenty years,” begins Ben Furey. “Those southern storms are serious and are not like anything we see in the UK. I was flying once from NC to Dallas and the diversion around a storm took two-plus hours it was so big. A two-hour flight became four and a half hours.”
Meanwhile Gareth Rogers writes: “The weather delay in Nashville on Tuesday was fun. The Boca fans kept singing and chanting for 50 minutes. After they ignored the requests to go to the concourse, the stadium found someone to make the same plea in Spanish. The fans stopped singing for long enough to whistle and jeer the announcement and then started up again. A Boca fan sitting next to me said that most of these guys have been alone in Rio with limited police protection at Libertadores games, why would they be afraid of a little lightning?”
There’s been some more lightning, and the clock has reset. As things stand, this match won’t be restarting before midnight UK time. So while we wait, here’s some other Chelsea-flavoured news to whet the palate.
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… but here’s more from Jacob, who is fast turning into the UK’s number-one sports-adjacent meteorologist. “Turns out the lightning has to hit the ground. A flash of lightning is OK!” So perhaps we’ll get going in 15 to 20 minutes after all? Let’s manage expectations: perhaps not. Still, fingers crossed.
Some more lightning in the Charlotte sky, according to Jacob Steinberg. Could be a long one, not least because once we’re good to go again, we also have to factor in ten minutes for the players to warm up.
Jacob Steinberg is at the Bank of America Stadium. “This probably won’t kick off for another hour at least,” he reports. “It’s a 30-minute delay - which resets if there’s another bolt in the next 30 minutes within a ten-mile radius. The stadium is now empty.”
Early reports suggest the storm might take 30 to 40 minutes to pass. So in the meantime …
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Play suspended
87 min: Dark clouds gather over the stadium in Charlotte. The referee is told to take the players off the pitch and down the tunnel. The crowd aren’t happy, but they’re told to get themselves into the concourse as well.
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86 min: Benfica make a double change, removing Aursnes and Kokcu and sending on Veloso and Gouveia.
85 min: Lavia spins Belotti and gets his legs swiped for the pleasure. Belotti should be booked, but gets away with it.
84 min: Everyone lines up on the edge of the Benfica box. Palmer swings the free kick into the mixer. Belotti gets shoved to the floor and that releases the pressure on the Portuguese.
83 min: Neto drops a shoulder and performs a stepover to diddle Kokcu down the right. The Benfica man hangs out a frustrated leg, catching his opponent and going into the book. He too will miss the quarter-final should Benfica manage to turn this around.
81 min: Chelsea make a triple change, replacing James, Fernandez and Delap with Gusto, Dewsbury-Hall and Nkunku.
79 min: Cucurella looks long down the inside left and releases Delap, who rounds Trubin on the outside and slots confidently from a tight angle. That’s a glorious finish, but it’s not going to count because he’s offside.
78 min: Aursnes knocks the ball past Cucurella down the right and romps into acres of space. He cuts back for Prestianni, entering the box down the channel. He’s got to work Sanchez at the very least, but slices a weak shot wide left. As the ball bobbles past the post, Prestianni puts his head in his hands, as well he might. A huge chance for Benfica to equalise and force extra time.
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76 min: Benfica are trying to pick up the pace, but their moves are repeatedly breaking down in the final third. Chelsea looking pretty comfortable. “Bojangles is the best,” begins Beau Dure’s number to the choir. “I’ve been on the board of my college newspaper for eight years, and that always gave me an excuse to go to Bojangles, Cook Out and perhaps a full-fledged BBQ place. I’ve rotated off the board, which is bad for my palate but great for my waistline.”
74 min: The game restarts. Fernandez bursts down the middle and has Delap to his left, with Benfica short at the back. But he takes too long to decide whether to shoot or pass, and eventually does neither before Silva takes the ball off him.
72 min: Time for a Cooling Break (© Fifa 2025). The chaps migrate to the touchline for some tasty fluid.
70 min: Badiashile has tweaked something in making that challenge. He makes way for Tosin, while Benfica make a double change: Florentino and Pavlidis are replaced by Belotti and Prestianni.
68 min: Pavlidis charges down the inside-right channel and looks to have got in ahead of Badiashile. He’d be one on one with Sanchez, if so. But he can’t get a shot away, because Badiashile sticks to his shoulder, gently leans into him, and turns away with the ball as the striker sprawls on the ground. Benfica claim a penalty, but they’re not getting one. Very fine defending indeed.
66 min: That was sheer brilliance from James, who moments earlier could be found clanking the simplest of passes into touch. You could question Trubin’s starting position, but James sent that flying into the bottom-left corner with forensic accuracy. It isn’t exactly a carbon copy, but there are shades of Gary McAllister’s last-minute winner for Liverpool against Everton in 2001. Long-distance opportunism, perfectly executed.
GOAL! Benfica 0-1 Chelsea (James 64)
From the ridiculous to the sublime by Reece James in the space of just over a minute! He takes the free kick out on the flank. He spots Trubin standing in the middle of his goal, so with just a two-man wall ahead of him, he surprisingly goes direct, whipping into the bottom left! Tucked right in the corner! The keeper beaten all ends up!
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63 min: This is getting super-scrappy. Now it’s Florentino who goes into the book, for a cynical clip on Palmer, who was in the process of spinning away from him down the left. A free kick in a dangerous position.
62 min: James miscues a simple pass down the right straight out of play for a goal kick. On the touchline, Enzo Maresca fumes quietly.
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.
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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.
Coolest cat in the world
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) June 16, 2017
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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).
Updated
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!
