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Special night for Rafa Benitez and Chelsea under Jose Mourinho's shadow
DAVID LUIZ’S stunner last night sent Rafa Benitez on his way to Amsterdam as Stamford Bridge declared emphatically that “Jose’s coming home”.
The Chelsea defender’s brilliant long-range goal in the second half helped secure a 3-1 win on the night against Swiss club Basle and a 5-2 aggregate victory overall, to earn a Europa League final meeting with Benfica in Holland in a fortnight’s time.
But with the crowd regularly chanting the Special One’s name during the match, the best that Benitez can hope for as a result of his achievement is a little respect.
“We are doing our job,” he said. “Hopefully a lot of them, they will appreciate that.
“We’re doing our jobs as professionals. I think we’ve won 11 of our last 13 games at home, which is quite good.”
It is clear that Jose Mourinho’s shadow will continue to haunt the Spaniard’s “interim” tenure every step of the way after the Real Madrid boss made no secret of his desire to return to Stamford Bridge – a possibility clearly welcomed by the fans.
Basle winger Mohamed Salah spooked Chelsea with a goal before half-time but Fernando Torres’ strike after the break settled nerves.
“In the first half we didn’t perform in the best way,” said Torres. “At half-time we talked about that and it’s about concentration, mentality and showing that. We did it in the first 10 minutes of the second half.”
Indeed, Victor Moses scored soon after to ensure that Benitez got a last chance to land at least one of the five trophies he targeted on his arrival at the club in November.
Defeat in the World Club Championship final, semi-final failures in both domestic cup competitions and a failure to contend for the Premier League now puts all the focus on Amsterdam on May 15. Luiz said: “We lost three finals this season, so now is the time to win a title.”