Capping off what has been a stellar season in the UEFA Europa League, Benfica and Chelsea will meet for the 2012-2013 League Championship in what is expected to be a fantastic match between two of the League's premier squads.
The final will launch on Wednesday, May 15th at 2:30pm, EDT. Coverage will be provided by the FOX Soccer Channel.
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Coming off a loss in their Portuguese League playoff match against Porto, Benfica is poised to compete with Chelsea in this year's Europa final. With a consistent offensive attack along with the capability to play shutdown defense, Benfica has every reason to believe they can win the title as long as they don't dwell on previous defeats.
"At the moment, this is the most important match and it is no use to talk about previous matches," Benfica coach Jorge Jesus said to Yahoo Sports reporters. "The Porto match just has nothing to do with this final."
Even though Benfica will enter the final completely healthy across the board, they will be without the services of premier wingback Maxi Pereira. The 28-year-old star will be forced to serve a suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards earned in previous matches.
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Knowing the Benfica faithful haven't seen the club win a title in over 50 seasons, Jorge Jesus recognizes that while Chelsea may be favored to win, Benfica is certainly capable of earning the crown.
"In my opinion, the two best teams in the Europa League reached the final," Jesus told Yahoo Sports. If we compare the performances of Chelsea and Benfica in Europe over the last few seasons it's normal to think Chelsea are favorites but we at Benfica have every possibility of becoming the winners."
While Benfica has loads of individual talent on their side including Oscar Cardozo and Rodrigo Lima, Chelsea boasts a formidable unit as well.
The dynamic David Luiz paces a strong midfield unit for Chelsea. When able to create space and goal-scoring opportunities, this squad looks unstoppable at times given their overall speed, athleticism and match experience. With a phenomenal goal-keeper providing support for the offense in Petr Cech, Chelsea is a dangerous squad on all fronts.
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The clubs interim manager - Rafa Benitez - is extremely pleased with the performance of the team heading into Wednesday afternoon's championship tilt considering they're in a state of changeover.
"For a team in transition, achieving semi-finals and finals is quite an achievement," Benitez told reporters from The Independent. "You don't have time to do everything that you wanted to do, with the new players, and the young players. But I think it has been great at the end."
Rafa Benitez took over in November when former manager Roberto di Matteo was relieved of his duties. Guiding Chelsea to the 2012-2013 Europa Final, Benitez surely has been on a great run with the club. He can make it that much better if he's able to lead the squad to this year's title.
Be sure to catch what promises to be a classic match as Chelsea and Benfica meet Wednesday, May 15th for the Europa League Championship. The match is set to begin at 2:30pm, EDT with television coverage available through the FOX Soccer Channel.
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