Chelsea
can take a step closer to becoming only the fourth side to win all
three of UEFA's major club competitions by cementing a place in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals when they travel to Rubin Kazan on Thursday.
Only
Juventus, Ajax and Bayern Munich can count UEFA Champions League, UEFA
Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup triumphs among their list of honours, but
Chelsea are well positioned to add their name to that elite group as
they head to Russia with a 3-1 advantage from the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
"We
have established a good lead. We know that the second leg will be
difficult away from home, so it was important to get the victory and
score three goals," said Brazilian midfielder Ramires.
"Obviously
we want to qualify for the Champions League but we don't want to forgo
the trophies that we are chasing either," added the 26-year-old.
History
overwhelmingly favours Rafa Benitez's side with the Blues having won
all five previous encounters against Russian opposition and Rubin,
despite an 18-game European unbeaten run in Kazan, far less dominant in
Moscow, the venue for Thursday's return leg, having lost three of their
past four matches at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Spurs face Swiss challenge
Chelsea's London rivals Tottenham face a significantly sterner challenge as they make the trip to Basel to face the Swiss league leaders with their last-eight tie evenly poised at 2-2 after Spurs recovered from a two-goal deficit at White Hart Lane last week.
Chelsea's London rivals Tottenham face a significantly sterner challenge as they make the trip to Basel to face the Swiss league leaders with their last-eight tie evenly poised at 2-2 after Spurs recovered from a two-goal deficit at White Hart Lane last week.
Adding
to Andre Villas-Boas' problems is the absence of Gareth Bale, Aaron
Lennon and William Gallas after the trio all sustained injuries in the
first leg.
However, January arrival Lewis Holtby remained confident Tottenham could still secure their place in the last four.
"We
are good away from home, we have got some good results this season so
we're still positive and our confidence is high," said the German
international.
Benfica well placed against Magpies
Benfica will go to Newcastle as the favourites to advance following a 3-1 victory in the Portuguese capital last time out.
Benfica will go to Newcastle as the favourites to advance following a 3-1 victory in the Portuguese capital last time out.
Only
twice has a side recovered from a two-goal, first-leg deficit in the
competition's knockout phase since it was rebranded four years ago, and
while Newcastle are unbeaten in 13 European home fixtures they have only
won by more than one goal on two occasions in that time.
A
meagre return of 10 goals in 11 games since the start of this season's
group stage doesn't bode well for the Magpies, but midfielder Yohan
Cabaye is optimistic about his side's hopes.
"In
front of our supporters, I'm sure we'll have chances. Now it's up to us
to control the match well and play the 90 minutes right to the end to
try and qualify," said the French international.
With
the club having announced a sell-out for Thursday's match, Cabaye
added: "It'll be a whole different atmosphere and I know we can count on
our fans."
Lazio must overturn a 2-0
deficit in Rome if they are to make it through to the semis after Pierre
Webo and Dirk Kuyt struck two late goals for Fenerbahce a week ago.
However,
the Italians will be forced to play in front of an empty Olympic
Stadium after the club was sanctioned with a two-match stadium ban
following crowd trouble in their last-32 tie against Borussia
Moenchengladbach.
UEFA Europa League fixtures
Rubin Kazan (RUS) v Chelsea (ENG)
Basel (SUI) v Tottenham (ENG)
Lazio (ITA) v Fenerbahce (TUR)
Newcastle (ENG) v Benfica (POR)
Rubin Kazan (RUS) v Chelsea (ENG)
Basel (SUI) v Tottenham (ENG)
Lazio (ITA) v Fenerbahce (TUR)
Newcastle (ENG) v Benfica (POR)
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