Chelsea face Basel test

If Chelsea are to salvage a trophy from their difficult campaign, they will have to succeed where their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur have already failed and beat Switzerland's FC Basel in their Europa League semifinal tie.
The two sides meet at the St. Jakob-Park in Thursday's first leg, with Chelsea wary of the threat posed by a side that eliminated Spurs on penalties in the quarterfinals.
After starting the season as European champions, Chelsea never even wanted to be in this competition, but now the focus is on going all the way and lifting a trophy they have never won before.
The desire to do so is made even more acute by their recent FA Cup semifinal loss to Manchester City.
No English club has won this competition - which was re-branded from its traditional title of the UEFA Cup in 2009 - since Liverpool in 2001, although Middlesbrough and Fulham have both been runners-up since.
But if Chelsea are to make it to the final in Amsterdam on May 15, they must get the better of opponents who, as well as sending Zenit St Petersburg and Tottenham packing from Europe this season, also won at home to Manchester United and Bayern Munich in last season's Champions League.
Basel have lost just once in 21 competitive games since the beginning of December - and that was an ultimately inconsequential 1-0 loss away to Zenit. Murat Yakin's side are three points clear of Grasshopper at the top of the Swiss table with eight games left to play, and the coach is relishing the tie.
The draw prevented Yakin, the former Swiss international of Turkish descent, from coming up against one of his former clubs in Fenerbahce, with the Turks drawn to face Benfica instead.

FIXTURES

(kick-offs 1905 GMT)
At Basel, Switzerland
FC Basel (SUI) v Chelsea (ENG)
At Istanbul, Turkey
Fenerbahce (TUR) v Benfica (POR)