BlueLion.

Revealed on the same day as the Europa Legaue final... if we get there, we'll probably play in it.

Plus we have a home game against Spurs to stick in there somewhere as well... thankfully our progression means that it will be pushed back so late into the season it might even become a "pointless" game in terms of the UCL spots having been moreorless decided already. It won't get played until after the EL final (provided we reach it!), I'm sure.

Bayern-Real Madrid and Chelsea-Benfica finals would be a very, very interesting set of match-ups.

Chelsea have been drawn against Swiss team FC Basel in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. In the other tie, Fenerbahce will host SL Benfica, the conquerors of Newcastle in the last round; both teams have previously come up against the Blues in UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (in 2008 and 2012 respectively , with either team proving potentially very difficult opponents in the Amsterdam final should Chelsea progress. Rafael Benitez' team have crucially been drawn away first, meaning the defending European champions will have the advantage of the second leg being at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have an absolutely formidable record in West London - since Manchester United won 1-0 there in 2011, the Blues have won ten and drawn the other two of their last twelve competitive European fixtures at home; scoring an impressive 35 goals in the process and conceding merely ten. The first legs will be played on Thursday 25 April and the returns the following week. Basel accounted for London rival Tottenham in the last round - after drawing 4-4 on aggregate after extra-time, the Swiss side triumphed 4-1 on penalty kicks. They currently top the Swiss Super League by a point, where they have scored more goals than any other side domestically and can also boast of an unbeaten home domestic record at St. Jakob-Park. Their route to the semi-finals has seen them dispose of Dnipro of Ukraine; Zenit St-Petersburg (who accounted for Liverpool earlier on in the competition); and of course Tottenham. They will no doubt prove stiff opposition for the Champions of Europe. The final in Amsterdam will be played on May the 15th - will Chelsea be there? You can discuss the big semi-final in our discussion thread. Click here to view the article

Basel vs Chelsea Fenerbahce vs Benfica SL

He just did the simple things right. Kakuta, take note.

Moses is arguably more direct than Hazard. He is very strong and can mix it up between directly running at opponents, or trying to out-muscle players. We can't just have a squad of technical players. Yes, we might be targeting the likes of Isco, but we are signing the likes of Moses and also signing people like Schurrle because they are different to what we already have.

Would be good for Torres and for this club if he leaves this summer having scored 20+ goals. Reaching the 20 mark makes his season look respectable and that is paramount in selling him on, and also for his confidence.

Newcastle at the Bridge in August without a doubt.

Nobody cared who I was until I put on the mask.

Absolutely agreed. Lampard is already a Chelsea legend without question. Whether he gets the record is trivial, in my opinion. He has reached the 200 mark, yet there are players who will eventually surpass him in the future; that wouldn't mean he would no longer be one of our greatest players. Of course it would be nice, but he's reached a double-century and that in itself is the major achievement here. One more appearance means 600 games as well - absolute legend.

Victor Moses was comfortably the best player on the pitch tonight. Very well played. Delighted for Fernando as well.

^ yeah, he's clearly shit. We should sell him, he clearly isn't good enough for Chelsea. By SOME DISTANCE he was the best player on the pitch tonight, and one of the best in the first leg. Moses is a squad player. We are not Real Madrid; our squad players are not the level of Karim Benzema and Ricardo Carvalho. Our squad players have to be competent, consistent all-rounders who can play with balls into feet, or take a more physical route. Moses is a perfect squad signing and will be how Essien was to Lampard and Ballack and Makelele, to Oscar, Mata and Hazard. Great player.

A phenomenal achievement, but she is an obnoxious, arrogant wench who needs a good slapping. She basically looks down on everyone as not being good enough to support the club.

You newbies never fail to amuse me.

Well if you're comparing that with Ramires, at least Mikel can hold the ball in the first place.

Hang on, did we win or did we lose? I can never tell when I read these topics. The performance was horrible, yet we got three points. After four games in 9 days and endless rotation, I'd have taken ANY win. We were lucky admittedly, but you need luck to succeed in this game. Onwards and upwards; three wins on the bounce and five from the last six in all competitions is very positive. Our home form has also greatly improved - that is ten wins and a draw in our last 11 at Stamford Bridge. Plenty of areas for improvement, but after such a brutal schedule, if you'd have offered me a sloppy 2-1 win over a side battling to beat the drop AND with a new manager at the helm, own goals and deflections included, I've have gratefully bitten the hand that feeds. Ergo, I am very happy. This season will be remembered for winning trophies and our league placement; not for how we achieved it. Opposition fans may begrudge us results and the trophies we have won/may go on to win this season, but the history books make offer no diction of luck and fortune. Just be grateful for the positive result, if nothing else.

He's 21, and has played 4 games in 8/9 days and 50+ matches in total all season (not including friendlies and internationals). He's bound to be freakin' knackered, so one off-game isn't going to surprise me every now and again.

Cech - Ferreira, Luiz, Terry, Bertrand - Benayoun, Lampard, Aké - Marin, Moses, Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Azpilicueta, Oscar , Ivanovic, Mikel, Hazard, Mata. We can afford to put only 50% into this game. Don't think I'm being arrogant, but we have one foot in the semi-finals, and the upcoming games are more important. We have to risk playing a far weaker team on Thursday to allow the likes of the Three Amigos and Dave the chance to rest. The team above has only Cech, Luiz and Bertrand starting from who played yesterday. It is good enough to go to Russia and draw.

Mikel bossing it once again... the insurance policy you need in banana-skin games such as this.

IVANOVICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC YOU LEGEND!

Who's this lad in the mask? Well played Torres!

Absolutely. This has been a long time coming.

^ good post. Neuer IS a very arrogant person. A good goalkeeper, though. But as you say he constantly tries to impose himself physically rather than mentally, which is the reason why he was well-beaten by four very good penalties and saved only one poorly-hit spot-kick; whereas Cech - who was entirely focused on the task at hand - went the right way and saved two very well-hit penalties and nearly stopped three other well-hit kicks. That is why I believe Cech is superior to Neuer - Neuer has to try and scare the opponents with his physicality, whilst Cech intimidates them because he is a world-class goalkeeper.