http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ramires-c30523 expected a stern resistance from their Champions League quarterfinal opponents, Benfica and believed that the Portuguese side can give a run for the money to the Blues at Stamford Bridge.
The Londoners defeated their Portuguese opponents 1-0 in the away leg at Lisbon, after http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Salomon-Kalou-c32266 netted the ball for his side to give them edge.
A victory against Benfica will give Chelsea an opportunity to avenge their semi-final defeat against the Spanish giants, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 in 2009. The Camp Nou side tamed the Serie A club, AC Milan 3-1 to book their place in the last four.
However, the Brazilian International cautioned his side not to be distracted by their possible semi-final opponents. He urged the team to take it one game at a time and believed that Benfica can pose problems for the Blues, despite the fact that they are
playing at home.
“It will certainly be a difficult game,” Ramires told reporters. “We have an important advantage from the first game, obviously, but we have 90 tough minutes in front of us and we are going to face a serious challenge tomorrow.”
Ramires, who wears the number 7 shirt at Chelsea, had earlier played for Benfica in the 2009/2010 season before opting to move to Stamford Bridge on a four year contract. In total, he has represented the London side on 74 occasions and has scored 10 goals
for the Blues. He also picked up four assists during this period.
The 25 year old also revealed that he was deeply upset following the ouster of the former Portuguese manager, Andre Villas Boas. The lanky midfielder is known to have enjoyed the confidence of the former Blues boss and admitted that he had matured as a player
under his management.
However, he went on to praise the interim manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roberto-c31294 Di Matteo, claiming that the Italian has been the mastermind of the Blues resurgence in the last couple of games. Chelsea have won six out of their eight games under Di Matteo.
“Roberto has instilled great confidence in us and we have begun to realise again we are a great team with great players, and have built from the first victory going from strength to strength.”
When asked about the how the management change has paid dividends for the Stamford Bridge side, he responded by saying that the Blues were short of confidence in the earlier part of the season and rediscovered their form under the Italian.
“Realistically, it’s tough to say and hard to explain. We went through a tough period, obviously, and have taken strength from this change in the coach, found new confidence after the change, feeling more respect in ourselves.”
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