Blues face Basel

CHELSEA will face Basel for a place in the final of the Europa League.

Rafa Benitez’s men saw off quarter-final opponents Rubin Kazan despite a 3-2 second-leg defeat in Russia last night.
They progressed 5-4 on aggregate thanks to goals from Fernando Torres and Victor Moses.

Blues boss Benitez said: "Every draw could be difficult for us but Basel is not too far away to travel, so maybe it is a good option."

Swiss giant Basel KO'd Tottenham on penalties in their quarter-finals last night.
And Chelsea club secretary David Barnard said: "I think we would have hoped for Basel but then Basel have just put out Tottenham.

"They were also responsible for Manchester United not getting through the group stage which is a tough one.
"Credit must go to Rafa because of the way he has handled it and got Chelsea to two semi-finals."

Barnard also had one eye on the Europa League final, where he has already pinpointed Chelsea's preferred opponents.
He added: "If we play in the final of the Europa League final we will still be holders of the Champions League so we could be holders of both trophies at the same time.

"Fenerbahce and Benfica are both known to us.
"We played Benfica in last year's Champions League and we have a good relationship with them so I think we would prefer to have Benfica in the final."
Fenerbahce meet Benfica in the other semi-final. The matches will be played on April 25 and May 2.