Basle 3-1

Independent:

Chelsea 3 Basel 1 Chelsea back in familiar territory after season of upheaval

By SAM WALLACE

The banner on the Shed End still proclaims #RAFAOUT, the supporters sing for Jose Mourinho or Roberto Di Matteo and yet, at the club where nothing stays the same for long and conflict seems eternal, it will be Rafa Benitez who leads Chelsea into the Europa League final a week on Wednesday.
The manager no-one wanted. The competition no-one cared about. The season that looked like it could be a train wreck in December, now delivers the fifth European final in the club’s history. It could yet end in more recriminations if Benitez does not deliver the club a top four finish and Champions League football next season but from where Chelsea stand right now the picture does not look too bad.
It will potentially be the 11th major honour in ten years of the Roman Abramovich regime and an appropriately bonkers finale – although the final is not the last game of the season – to another madcap season at Stamford Bridge. No club has quite perfected the art of mining trophies from seasons of managerial sackings and general mid-term chaos, like Chelsea.
Although nothing will quite top last year’s Champions League triumph under Di Matteo, this season is building to another crescendo. No English club has won European trophies in consecutive seasons since Nottingham Forest completed back-to-back European Cup wins in 1980. It is only the Europa League but it is not as if any other English club are still flying the flag in European competition.
Benitez’s team play Manchester United on Sunday and Tottenham on Wednesday – two games that will go a long way to dictating whether they qualify for the Champions League next season. So much can still change, and over it all hangs the question of who will succeed Benitez, of more pertinently whether it will be Mourinho. This club remains the show that you simply cannot tear your eyes away from.
Chelsea will play Benfica in the final in Amsterdam in 12 days’ time, the same club they beat in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season. For most of the club’s support, the opposition to Benitez’s appointment will never change even if he dares follow his players on their victory lap in Amsterdam should they win the final. No-one said this was simple.
Chelsea’s opponents in the final are the former club of David Luiz and Ramires, and it was Luiz who scored the goal that reminded everyone that Chelsea and Basle who really belong to two different worlds. That was the third of three goals in the space of nine minutes before the hour that put the tie beyond the Swiss club’s reach.
Behind in the first half to Mohamed Salah’s goal in time added-on, Chelsea finally remembered that they are essentially a Champions League club serving an exile in the Europa League and raised the quality of their performance to a level which Basle simply could not live with.
Benitez picked a team that did not include John Terry, who had played the previous two games before last night and it will be interesting to see if the captain starts the final. He famously missed the Champions League final last season through suspension and it will be a big call either way whether he plays in Amsterdam, although you can expect Benitez to make it without any reference to sentiment.
There were enough chances for Chelsea to break Basle’s spirit in the first half and put this tie comfortably out of sight but through bad luck and their own failings in front of goal they failed to do so and with almost the last kick of the first half, the Swiss side scored.
It would have been different if Frank Lampard’s volley into the ground that bounced up and struck Yann Sommer’s right post had gone in. The ball had come to him from Fernando Torres’ nicely weighted, lofted ball over the Basle defence. You could see from the way Lampard pushed on late in the game, long after it was won, that he is taking nothing for granted in pursuit of the goal that will put him level with the club-record of 202.
Petr Cech was first obliged to make a good save coming out to meet Salah when the dangerous Valentin Stocker played the Egyptian striker in on goal. Then, in time added on at the end of the half, it was Stocker’s ball again through a very square, static Chelsea back four that Salah ran onto and curled, left-footed, beyond the reach of Cech.
It was, all told, a marvellous response from Chelsea in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The first goal came from Torres, a well-anticipated tidy-up job from a few yards out. Hazard, who was excellent last night, drove forward from midfield to create a shooting chance for Lampard and the save from Sommer was careless. He allowed the ball to roll across his goal to Torres.
Two minutes later the second arrived. This time it was Moses coming in from the left, a return ball from Torres and when the latter’s first shot was blocked by Fabian Schar the rebound fell nicely for Moses to score. Now they were feeling unstoppable and nothing articulated their many and varied assets more than Luiz’s wonderfully struck third goal.
It was Lampard who checked himself with the ball on the edge of the box and played it back to the Brazilian, who curled a shot with his left foot with enough draw to bring its flight from outside the goal to rest inside Sommer’s right post
That was it for Basel, although Fabian Frei did hit the bar with a later shot. Terry never did get a run-out at the end, Benitez giving Nathan Ake his fourth senior appearance instead. At Chelsea, they are accustomed to this kind of success but winning trophies never loses its appeal. Amid all the upheavals, you could argue that success like this has been the one constant of the Abramovich years. For ten days later this month, they could be the holders of the Champions League and the Europa League. Not bad at all.

Man of the match Hazard.
Match rating 7/10.
Referee J Eriksson (Swe).
Attendance 39,403.


Five stars: Chelsea's European finals
1971: Cup-Winners' Cup
Peter Osgood scored in a 1-1 draw and in the replay in Athens as Dave Sexton's side beat Real Madrid 2-1.
1998: Cup-Winners' Cup
Gianfranco Zola's goal within seconds of coming on as a sub earned a 1-0 win over Stuttgart in Stockholm.
2008: Champions League
John Terry slipped up and Didier Drogba was sent off as Avram Grant's side lost on penalties to Manchester United in a Moscow monsoon.
2012: Champions League
Drogba equalised Thomas Müller's opener for “hosts” Bayern Munich before Arjen Robben had an extra-time penalty saved. Drogba then clinched a 4-3 shootout win.
...and No 5: Benfica v Chelsea
Wednesday 15 May, 7.45pm Amsterdam, ITV


=================

Guardian:

Chelsea in Europa League final after Fernando Torres unhinges Basel
Daniel Taylor at Stamford Bridge

By the end, it was a throwback to happier times for Chelsea. Their place in the Europa League final had been confirmed and, however much a downgrade it is compared with last season's glories, they will cherish the opportunity to bring another trophy back to Stamford Bridge at the end of a difficult, sometimes chaotic season.
They had kept their nerve even when Basel took the lead at the end of the first half to engulf the stadium with a sense of foreboding. Rafael Benítez's players cleared their heads during the break and their response in the second half was reminiscent of those intoxicating Champions League nights when they simply refused to bend.
It brought them three goals in the space of nine minutes and the third, from David Luiz, will be remembered as one of the more stunning finishes Stamford Bridge has witnessed for some time. Over the two legs they had deserved to go through and, though it is a strange mix of politics at this club, Benítez will probably not be too offended that a date against Benfica in Amsterdam on 15 May had been booked and it was the name of José Mourinho that was being sung.
The serenading began from the Matthew Harding stand inside the first few minutes and, for long spells, it was the soundtrack to the night. "José's coming home," they sang. The message was loud and clear but at least from Benítez's perspective the mood is very different from the mutinies he encountered earlier in the season. An unofficial ceasefire has been called and, however unfashionable it might be in these parts to offer Benítez any credence, he probably deserves some slack.
The only slight disappointment for Chelsea's supporters was that Frank Lampard could not equal Bobby Tambling's record of 202 goals for the club. Lampard hit the post early on, fired in the shot that led to Fernando Torres scoring the equaliser and, maybe trying a little too hard, put a late free-kick into the stand as the crowd implored him to add to the sense of occasion.
Overall, however, it constituted a satisfying evening, not least as Chelsea managed to win without the torn emotions of losing anyone for the final for totting up too many yellow cards. Roberto Di Matteo was deprived of four players for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich last May. The same number were vulnerable here but Benítez sensibly substituted David Luiz and Ramires. Ryan Bertrand avoided the dreaded booking and the fourth player, Mikel John Obi, was not involved at all. Benfica are refined opponents but, with a full squad, Chelsea will fancy their chances.
They had begun like a team in a hurry but their wayward finishing – one effort from Torres went out for a throw-in, reminiscent of a golfer slicing on to the wrong fairway – encouraged Basel to come back at them before half-time, culminating in Mohamed Salah opening the scoring. The Swiss champions had been growing in confidence but it was a bad goal to concede, stemming from a basic inability to hold a defensive line. Valentin Stocker's pass was beautifully weighted and Salah ran off Branislav Ivanovic to clip a left-foot shot past Petr Cech.
At half-time Chelsea's supporters might have been forgiven for bracing themselves for a nerve-shredding 45 minutes. Instead, the team's response was hugely impressive. Eden Hazard, in particular, was tremendous, always willing to carry the ball forward, displaying some lovely touches and playing with the cutting edge that justified Benítez's decision to start with Juan Mata on the bench, keeping the Spaniard back for Sunday's game at Manchester United.
Hazard was instrumental in the equaliser, collecting the ball just inside the Basel half and then bursting between two players and accelerating away. His speed and movement took him beyond another challenge and when he was tackled the ball broke to Lampard just outside the penalty area. Yann Sommer, the Basel goalkeeper, kept out Lampard's left-foot drive but Torres was following up and first to the rebound.
A sense of relief lifted the tension that had built during the interval and two minutes later the game swung decisively in Chelsea's favour as Moses surged infield from the left, played it to Torres and continued his own run into the penalty area. Torres scuffed his shot but the ball broke kindly for Moses. Fabian Schär smothered the first attempt but Moses made no mistake when the ball popped up for him to have a second crack.
Suddenly it was as if Chelsea had been shed of inhibition. David Luiz's goal deserves all the superlatives that will come with it: a dipping, curling left-foot effort into the top corner from Lampard's layoff 25 yards out. The shot was a combination of swerve, audacity and expertise but no one should be too surprised. A few moments earlier, he had tried to catch Sommer off his line by lofting a shot from his own half that was only a foot or so too high.
Chelsea had played with great confidence and the Brazilian, in his new midfield role, had scored a goal to grace the occasion.


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Telegraph:

Chelsea 3 FC Basle 1; agg 5-2:

Henry Winter

So now the scramble begins for tickets for the Europa League final of May 15. Tickets on the black market for the Amsterdam Arena were hurtling above the £250 mark within seconds of full-time and will rise even higher because of the meagre allocation offered by Uefa to Chelsea and Benfica. Chelsea say they will receive around 9,800 tickets, ranging from £39 to £117, for a stadium that holds 53,000. The touts will have a field day.
So now the rush also intensifies for trains, planes, ferries and minivans to Amsterdam. The price of flights from London was rising through the second half of this semi-final, passing £500 return by the final whistle.
Many will make the journey without tickets on the off-chance. Chelsea will be confident, particularly after this second-half performance when Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and David Luiz scored to end Basle’s hopes after they were stirred by Mohamed Salah’s strike just before the break. Luiz’s goal was a gem, curled in left-footed from 25 yards.
Although lacking the lustre of last year’s climax in the Champions League, this final will still be special for Chelsea. For Ramires and Luiz, it will be an emotional occasion against their former Portuguese employers. Nemanja Matic will relish the chance to show Chelsea what they offloaded.
Chelsea’s route to the final, taking on Sparta Prague, Steaua Bucharest, Rubin Kazan and Basle, was less challenging than the odyssey to last season’s Champions League glory when they had to overcome Napoli, Benfica, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. They now face Benfica again. Oscar Cardozo, Lima and Nicolas Gaitan are far more threatening than anything Basle offered.
Chelsea’s interim coach, Rafa Benítez, has good memories against Jorge Jesus’ Benfica, having beaten them while in charge of Liverpool to reach the Europa League semi-final in 2010 with Torres irresistible. Chelsea fans chanted for Jose Mourinho last night but this was a sweet moment for Benítez. At the end, the DJ played Madness. Good choice. Chelsea had gone one step beyond the semi-final.
At half-time, Benítez and his players spoke about the need to raise their intensity levels. Until then Chelsea were full of unrequited adventure, much of it emanating from Frank Lampard and inevitably Eden Hazard, again a collection of neat passes and back-heels.
Even before his goal, Moses was busy, starting on the left and drifting inside. At one point, he was trying to dribble out of trouble with Serey Die snapping at his heels. Three times Die fouled him, and eventually even Jonas Eriksson’s patience snapped. From the ensuing free-kick, curled in by Hazard, Fabian Schar headed out. Die then dived in on Ryan Bertrand and again Eriksson resisted the temptation to book Die.
Chelsea countered, Luiz hooking the ball wide. Torres, standing on the byeline, chested the ball down and ventured inside, soon passing to Hazard in the box. The Belgian’s return pass was a clever back-heel to Torres, whose low shot was saved.
Basle’s fans were standing and vocal. Chelsea supporters were far less boisterous, barring some chants of “Jose Mourinho” and “Jose’s coming home”. Their team seemed to switch off halfway through the opening period. Cahill flew into a tackle on Valentin Stocker after 24 minutes and was fortunate that the midfielder was not injured and that Eriksson was in benevolent mood.
Basle moved forward with increasing belief. Marco Streller connected with a fine left-footed volley that whistled just wide of Cech’s left-hand upright. Then Cech made a low save from Stocker. Chelsea briefly broke out, another brilliant back-heel from Hazard freeing Moses, whose cross was met weakly by Ramires.
The rest of the half was dominated by Murat Yakin’s lively side, such a contrast to events in the second period. Chelsea either failed to track the runners from midfield or the defenders simply were not getting tight enough to Basel’s attackers. Salah’s shot was saved by Cech, the ball bouncing and turned back in by Stocker.
The ball hit Bertrand’s left arm, which was slightly outstretched, and Basle appealed loudly for a penalty.
Eriksson and his many assistants deemed it ball to hand.
Chelsea should have heeded the warning. On the cusp of half-time, and shortly after Torres had almost hit the corner-flag, Basle struck. Chelsea again suffered from a lapse in concentration. Stocker was allowed time to thread the ball through to Salah, who calmly curled it left-footed around Cech and in.
Benítez had words at the break. Chelsea emerged a different force. Their tempo was far better. They really went for the Swiss and suddenly the road to Amsterdam opened up wide.
When Lampard shot left-footed after a good run by Hazard, Yann Sommer pushed the ball out but there was Torres anticipating well, driving the loose ball into the net, and earning a hug from Juan Mata who was warming up. Torres then turned provider. His shot bounced around in the box before Moses took charge, sweeping it home.
Chelsea were transformed, adding a third just before the hour. The fans were screaming at Lampard to try his luck from 25 yards but he realised Luiz was better placed. He touched the ball towards the Brazilian, whose left-footed shot curled so sweetly between Sommer and his right-hand post.
There was still some life left in the Swiss, and Fabian Frei hit the bar via a deflection off Branislav Ivanovic. Chelsea fans saluted Hazard when he was removed after another fine contribution to their season.
Hazard smiled at Mata as he walked towards his replacement, giving him a friendly wink as all around Chelsea fans applauded. Then Benítez removed one of his players on a booking, Luiz, who received a standing ovation.
Basle supporters then dissolved into anger during a surreal moment. The Chelsea stewards were appearing around the side of the pitch, impeding Basle’s attempts to take a corner. They then held up a large flag and lit flares perilously close to it. Through the smoke, there was no mistaking that Chelsea were off to Amsterdam.


=======================

Mail:

Chelsea 3 Basle 1 (agg 5-2):
Still think he is a PlayStation footballer, Gary?
Wonder of Luiz as Brazilian fires Chelsea to another European final with world-class strike
By Matt Barlow

It may not have had the cachet of victory with 10 men in the Nou Camp but Chelsea stormed into another European final last night.
Like last year, they beat a team with the initials FCB, who play in red and blue. But the Swiss  champions from Basle do not quite instill the same fear as Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
Chelsea, however, did what they needed to do after going behind to a goal by Mohamed Salah at the end of a nervous first half. They came out with renewed intensity and scored three goals in nine  minutes to secure a place in the Europa League final in Amsterdam on Wednesday week.
Fernando Torres pounced for the first, Victor Moses made the tie safer and David Luiz, who was once labelled a PlayStation footballer by pundit Gary Neville, scored a brilliant third with a curling left-foot shot, teed up by Frank Lampard.
Jose Mourinho’s name rang around Stamford Bridge but this was a rare night of satisfaction for Rafa Benitez.
‘We’re just not that interim’ a  banner once said at the Bridge, but the Spaniard will take them to a final after losing in the semis of the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup.
This was game 64 of the season for Chelsea, and Benitez stuck with roughly the team which had  performed so well in the first leg.
He felt comfortable enough with his side’s two away goals to put Juan Mata on the bench which meant more time for Eden Hazard in his preferred No 10 role. And there was a third successive game in midfield for Luiz alongside Lampard.
An early goal was vital, according to Basle manager Murat Yakin and they almost delivered it within a minute when Marco Streller drifted into space vacated by Cesar Azpilicueta but snatched at the chance and dragged the ball wide form the edge of the area.
Benitez had warned against  complacency on the eve of the game and here was another warning from the Swiss champions, who were spirited and fluent in attack.
The interim boss knew his side would have to defend and trusted his back line to do it well. His strategy would be to threaten on the break, a tactic which would have proved successful last week had the finishing been more clinical.
Moses, Hazard and Ramires were alert to the possibility of a quick counter-attack on the turnover of possession and space developed for Moses and Bertrand on the left because of Seney Die’s tendency to drift infield. It took only nine  minutes for the Blues to open up the Basle defence for Lampard — just as the fans were singing the name of Mourinho.
Torres clipped a pass into the path of Lampard as he ran from midfield and the England man guided a volley beyond goalkeeper Yann Sommer with his right foot. It was well-controlled and the Bridge froze, thinking this could be the record-equalling 202nd goal of his Chelsea career. Alas, the ball struck the foot of the far post and bounced to safety.
Torres made a lively start. His mobility was good, peeling away from the centre halves and inviting the midfielders to pierce the back four. He also forced Sommer into a sprawling save after he cut in from the left, linked up with Hazard and drove a shot low with his right foot.
As it was, Ramires wasted the best chance of the first half, served up neatly by Moses after another terrific dribble and back-heel by Hazard, who is finishing his first campaign in England in wonderful form. It whets the appetite for next season.
As these chances came and went, Basle were still dangerous. Streller, having again worked himself free in an area behind Azpilicueta, connected sweetly with a highly ambitious left-foot volley. It swerved towards goal and flashed narrowly wide of Petr Cech’s left-hand post.
Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic defended well for half an hour but cracks started to appear as  half-time approached and the  pressure increased.
Six minutes before the break, Cech dashed from his line to thwart Salah and Valentin Stocker wanted a  penalty when his shot on the turn crashed into Bertrand’s upper arm.
Fabian Schar then found space between Chelsea’s central defenders to forge forward but hooked his effort wide from 20 yards.
A Basle goal seemed inevitable and Benitez must have been willing his side to hold out until the  interval. They had almost clung on when Salah struck in stoppage time. Stocker, darting inside from the left, pulled defenders out of position, picked up the ball and threaded a pass through to Egypt striker Salah, who supplied a  composed left-foot finish to curl the ball inside the post.
In the semi-final of the Champions League last year, Chelsea were holding on against Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
Much has changed in 12 months since but they still have quality. It was Hazard who launched the move which triggered the equaliser, picking up possession on halfway and accelerating towards Basle’s goal.
The Belgian was blocked on the edge of the area and the ball spilled to Lampard, who forced another save from Sommer. But he could only parry and it fell to Torres, who lashed it high into the net for his fifth goal in the Europa League.
Within two minutes, Moses scored the second after a Torres shot deflected into his path and seven minutes later, Luiz’s sumptuous shot booked Chelsea’s passage.

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Mirror:

Chelsea 3-1 Basel:

Blues book their place in the Europa League Final.. but Benitez gets no love

Martin Lipton

They do irony at Chelsea better than anywhere else.
A club that says it wants stability, but has gone through nine managers in 10 years.
The organisation that lets its most successful and beloved coach go and then tries to offer him him a fortune to come back.
An owner who craves the Champions League above all else but gets rid of the bloke who delivers the Holy Grail because he never wanted him in the first place.
But of all the ridiculous Chelsea stories, the idea that you go out of seven competitions in a season, and then win the eighth, the very competition that landing them in meant cost one manager his job, under the most-detested boss in the history of the club, is something special.
Yet Rafa Benitez WILL head to Amsterdam in a fortnight with the Europa League in his sights, seeking the silverware that can only underline his own self-belief.
And Chelsea, too, will expect to beat Benfica, lift the trophy, show they remain a truly remarkable, infeasible club.
The Blues have had better teams, under Jose Mourinho, Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti, than this "transitional" one.

Some things do not change, though, even if the names in those Blue shirts do.
Benitez has overseen the end of the era dominated by John Terry and Frank Lampard, although only the post denied the veteran midfielder a share of Bobby Tambling's club record.
That will have to wait, for now, although it seems inevitable that Lampard's 202nd and then 203rd Chelsea goals will come.
But the Spaniard, unwanted by the Chelsea fans who continue to chant Mourinho's name, has surely done everything that could have been expected of him when he replaced Roberto Di Matteo.
There have been slip-ups along the way, in the Capital One Cup in particular, while the top four place he has to deliver is not yet guaranteed.
Benitez has, though, brought order where the Di Matteo reign ended in chaos. Has brought Eden Hazard and Juan Mata to full flower. Has made David Luiz the player he was destined to be. And got Fernando Torres scoring again.
Not with the fluency and verve he supplied for Benitez' Liverpool side. That task, it seems, is beyond anybody.

But it was Torres who popped up in the right place at the right time, just as Basel looked as if they could pull off their minor miracle and engineer an unlikely triumph.
The £50million man had been on the receiving end of howls of derision just seconds before Mohamed Salah waltzed through the square Blues back line to steer home on the stroke of half-time.
Basel, too, had been decent value for that lead. Skipper Marco Streller wasted a glorious chance within 50 seconds of the start and while Lampard played in by Torres, hit the post and Ramires missed with the goal at his mercy the Swiss side were a constant threat.
Streller flashed a volley inches wide, Salah should have scored when played in and Valentin Stocker demanded a penalty when his shot struck Ryan Bertrand's upper left arm.
A twitchy time, only for Chelsea to respond with three goals in the space of 10 minutes and kill it off.
Torres' goal was key, too. Hazard, simply superb at times, tore forward, leaving three defenders trailing desperately, before Lampard thrashed left-footed at the loose ball.
Basel keeper Yann Sommer could not hold and Torres, clearly on-side, beat Ramires in the race t scoop the ball home.

It was Torres' 19th competitive goal of the season, fifth in the Europa League and he was involved, too, in the goal that knocked the stuffing out of the Swiss.
The creation and finish, though, came from Victor Moses, who carried in at pace off the left and kept on running, riding the luck to stab home at the second opportunity when Torres' shot deflected into his path.
If Basel were not brushed off then, they were before the hour. Lampard teed up Luiz but even the Brazilian could barely have imagined what he was about to do, a huge, swinging left footer from 25 yards that bent miles and ended up in the top corner.
Sensational stuff, and no way back, even though Petr Cech's bar reverberated to Fabian Frei's long-ranger.
Maybe, just maybe, some of the Blues fans might even, just, consider giving Benitez a little respect. No, perhaps not. That's just silly, isn't it?


======================


Sun:

NOW LU GONNA BELIEVE US ... David Luiz puts Chelsea 3-1 up on the night

By SHAUN CUSTIS

SO let’s hear it for Rafa Benitez, Chelsea fans.

OK maybe not. But Benitez is clearly intent on ending his short-term reign with a flourish.

Should Chelsea beat Benfica in Amsterdam on May 15, he will add the Europa League to his UEFA Cup success with Valencia in 2004 and his Champions League triumph for Liverpool a year later.

The Spaniard also knows another trophy on his CV will not harm his chances of employment elsewhere.

He will get no thanks from Blues supporters who are salivating at the prospect of Jose Mourinho’s return.

It would not do for the Special One to have to rough it in the Europa League, he is above all that. However much Roman Abramovich chops and changes his managers, the club keep on reaching finals.

This will be a 12th during the billionaire owner’s time at the helm if you include the Club World Cup and the European Super Cup. Stability? Who needs it?

For the likes of John Terry, Ramires and Branislav Ivanovic the Dutch date will also represent some consolation for missing out on the Champions League triumph last year through suspension.

In the end, it was easy for Chelsea although there was concern when they were one down to the last kick of the first half by Mohamed Salah.

That made the aggregate score 2-2 and the home side had a tenuous advantage on away goals.

But two in two minutes early in the second half from Fernando Torres and Victor Moses changed everything and David Luiz put the icing on the cake with a 25-yard special for the third.

Chelsea, playing their 64th game of a gruelling season, had been in the driving seat after the first leg.

They had returned from Switzerland with a 2-1 lead thanks to Moses and an injury-time strike from Luiz.

And, although Basel had shown they were capable of putting the Blues under pressure, they were long odds to turn the tie around.

But the Swiss nearly scored in the first minute when their captain Marco Streller was presented with a chance on the volley 16 yards out.

The striker snatched at it, though, and dragged his shot wide much to Chelsea’s relief.

Chants of “Jose Mourinho” were ringing round the ground and, as they did so, Frank Lampard thought he had equalled Bobby Tambling’s all-time Chelsea scoring record of 202.

Torres played a lovely ball over the top only for the veteran midfielder, 34, to hit a post.

More songs followed for Champions League-winning Roberto Di Matteo and Torres, who was not one of the previous manager’s favourites.

And the £50million Spanish striker duly fired in from the edge of the box only for Basel keeper Yann Sommer to make an excellent save.

For Basel, Streller was unlucky with a peach of a volley on the far side of the box which whistled past the angle of post and bar and had Blues keeper Petr Cech totally beaten.

Cech then saved well from Salah before penalty claims from the visitors were rightly rejected when Valentin Stocker’s follow-up hit Ryan Bertrand’s shoulder.

Torres tried to respond but fired high into the stands on the far side of the ground — and was so far off target it did not even bounce before going out for a throw-in.

And the Swiss outfit duly threw a spanner in the works as they nicked a shock lead on the stroke of half-time.

It had been coming, too. Stocker played Salah in again and this time the Egyptian striker made no mistake, clipping the ball beyond Cech. It was game on and, at that stage, it seemed you could not rule Basel out.

But Chelsea came sharply out of the blocks after the break — presumably with a rocket from Benitez ringing in their ears.

The Stamford Bridge boss had looked increasingly agitated in the technical area.

His nerves were soon soothed, however, when the Blues grabbed their leveller just five minutes after the interval.

Eden Hazard’s surging run was blocked and the ball fell to Lampard who shot goalwards. Sommer could not hold it and Torres gobbled up the scraps to rattle it home.

Two minutes later Chelsea were home and dry when they got a second. Torres jinked left and his effort deflected off a defender and fell to Moses who gratefully finished.

Luiz followed that with a quite brilliant left-foot curler into the top corner on 59 minutes, which gave Sommer no chance.

After that Basel just wanted the final whistle. Yes Fabian Frei did hit the bar and Cech saved from sub Marcelo Diaz, but they were merely looking for a consolation.

Chelsea could have had more. Sub Juan Mata was denied by Sommer who also beat out a Torres strike.

The brush off for Basel was a comprehensive one.

DREAM TEAM STAR MAN - VICTOR MOSES (Chelsea)

CHELSEA: Cech 6, Azpilicueta 6, Ivanovic 6, Cahill 6, Bertrand 5, Lampard 7, Hazard 6, Luiz 7, Ramires 6, Moses 8, Torres 6. Subs: Oscar (Ramires 66) 6, Mata (Hazard 75) 6, Ake (Luiz 81) 5. Not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Terry, Benayoun. Not used: Booked: Azpilicueta.

BASEL: Sommer 6; Steinhofer 6, Schar 6, Sauro 6, Voser 6; El-Nenny 6, F Frei 6 (Diaz 75, 6), Die 6; Salah 7, Streller 6 (Zoua 62, 6), Stocker 6 (Degen 62, 6). Subs not used: Vailati, Park, Ajeti, Cabral. Booked: Schar, Steinhofer.

REF: J Eriksson 7

Att: 39,403
Ref: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden).


====================


Star:

RAFA BENITEZ SHOWS JOSE MOURINHO WHO'S IN CHARGE


By David Woods

MAYBE Rafa Benitez does know how to inspire these Chelsea players after all!

Blues fans were singing the name of manager-in-waiting Jose Mourinho, but interim boss Benitez seemed to do something right at half-time last night.


Before the break, Chelsea had been outplayed by an adventurous Basel team who thoroughly deserved their 1-0 lead on the night, netted in stoppage-time through Mohamed Salah.


It put this Europa League semi-final clash on a knife-edge but whatever was said in the dressing room, it worked as Chelsea scored three goals in nine minutes from the 50th to book their date in the final against Benfica in 12 days time.


Certainly, it would not have taken a genius to come up with a motivational talk, pointing out Chelsea were in danger of going out in the semi-finals for the THIRD time this season, following losses to Swansea in the Capital One Cup and Manchester City in the FA Cup 19 days ago at Wembley.


Benitez is desperate to leave Stamford Bridge on a high, knowing a European trophy, along with qualification for the Champions League, will look good on his CV as he goes job-seeking this summer.


Whatever was said, and whoever said it, it worked! Fernando Torres, Victor Moses – making it four successive times he has scored in the Europa League – and David Luiz claimed the strikes that gave Chelsea the chance to follow their success in the Champion League last season with glory in the second-best competition for club sides in Europe.


Supporters would have loved to see skipper Frank Lampard score to equal Bobby Tambling’s record of 202 goals for the Blues.


But after hitting the post in the ninth minute the midfielder had few other opportunities, fluffing a free-kick midway through the second-half that normally he would expect to get on target.


At least his team now have an extra game to go alongside the four in the Premier League – and maybe Benitez will show a softer side and start him in three of the five left to give him a decent chance of making Chelsea history.


That is not to say Lampard wasn’t key last night. Torres had teed him up for his sidefoot, which hit the upright, and for Chelsea’s equaliser the midfielder repaid the striker.


He picked up a loose ball after an excellent run by Eden Hazard and connected with a sweet, left-foot shot from just outside the box.


Keeper Yann Sommer dived full length to his left to keep it out, but Torres was there to beat Ramires and follow up, blasting high into the net with his right foot from close range.


Two minutes later the Blues gave themselves plenty of breathing space. Torres was involved, trying a shot which was deflected off Gaston Sauro.


Unluckily for Basel, the ball deflected straight into the path of Moses, who found the ball bobbling up nicely off Fabian Schar for him to slot home.


His goal was fortunate, but there was a spectacular one to come from Luiz.


He struck with a 25-yard left-foot curler, which bent into the top corner, having been teed up by Lampard.


Earlier, Chelsea’s charge to the final in Amsterdam had been hit by Egyptian sensation Salah.


The flying forward gave Tottenham a torrid time in both legs of the quarter-finals, scoring a key goal in Switzerland as Basel dumped out Andre Villas-Boas’ men.


Basel went ahead with the last move of the half in stoppage-time after Salah caught the Chelsea backline dithering.


Valentin Stocker rolled the ball forward into the box for Salah and he curled a left-foot shot around Petr Cech with ease.


The first chants in support of Mourinho had gone up in the eighth minute but those same fans in the Shed End calling for the former coach nearly saw Chelsea fall behind in the 27th minute.


And what a goal it would have been.


Marco Streller connected superbly with a left-foot volley, Marco Van Basten style, from a crossfield pass from Markus Steinhofer. It was a wonderful effort, grazing the angle of post and bar.


But then Basel were brushed off and Chelsea fans could start booking their trips to Amsterdam, where they will be hoping to go one better than Fulham, who lost to Atletico Madrid in the final three years ago.


Having been forced to go into the competition after crashing out of the Champions League, you can bet there will be no Blues supporters dissing the Europa League now!