Revitalised Torres ready to lead Chelsea to semis

LONDON – A revitalised Fernando Torres is expected to lead Chelsea’s attack tonight when they try to sweep Benfica aside to claim their sixth Champions League semi-final appearance in nine years.

Torres, 28, who scored his first Premier League goal since September in Saturday’s 4-2 triumph at Aston Villa, has netted three times in the last four starts and is set to continue at the expense of the injured Didier Drogba.The Spain striker’s renewed sharpness has helped boost Chelsea’s team spirit in recent weeks as he has provided a series of key assists including one for Salomon Kalou in the 1-0 quarter-final first leg victory at Benfica last week.’Strikers feed off goals but apart from that Fernando’s been playing very well, even without the goals, by assisting on other goals’ interim manager Roberto Di Matteo told reporters.’He works so hard for the team. He’s enjoying himself. He’s enjoying playing. He’s got a smile on his face and he’s confident.’Ivorian Drogba, 34, who picked up a toe injury in training on Friday, is fighting to prove his fitness for Wednesday’s game, as is Brazil centre half David Luiz.Former Benfica player Luiz limped off at Villa Park with an ankle ligament injury and is likely to be replaced by England international Gary Cahill.Chelsea have lost just once in eight matches since Italian Di Matteo replaced the sacked Andre Villas-Boas last month.The Londoners have won six of those games to rekindle ambitions in the Champions League, the FA Cup – they face Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals of that competition later this month – and the Premier League where they occupy fifth place.Chelsea will attempt to extend a 100 percent home record of four wins in the Champions League this season against Jorge Jesus’s team who knocked Braga off the top of the Portuguese league at the weekend.Real Madrid’s prolific trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain are likely to sweep aside APOEL Nicosia tonight, needing one goal to reach the 100 mark between them this season. Jose Mourinho’s men had no time for sympathy as they won their quarter-final first leg 3-0 in Cyprus last week, all but securing a semi-final place and ending tiny APOEL’s valiant first foray into Europe’s elite club competition.The Cypriots failed to muster a shot on Iker Casillas’s goal in front of their own fans, and will face an onslaught from three strikers in rampant form at the Bernabeu.Portugal’s former World Player of the Year Ronaldo has amassed 47 goals in all competitions this year, and scored two and set up two more as Real routed Osasuna 5-1 in La Liga last Saturday.French international Benzema opened the scoring in Pamplona with a sumptuous volley reminiscent of Marco van Basten’s famous effort for Netherlands in the Euro 1988 final, and took his tally for the season to 28.Argentina’s Higuain bagged two and took his season total to 24 as leaders Real closed on the league title, six points ahead of Barcelona with eight games left to play and having scored 100 goals in their 30 matches.Mourinho will have one eye on Sunday’s league clash against third-placed Valencia and will probably use the occasion to rotate his squad. -Nampa-Reuters