Jesus claims Chelsea are lucky to be leading CL tie
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Jesus claims Chelsea are lucky to be leading Champions League tie
Jesus walks: Benfica's coach oversees his side's training session on Tuesday night
UEFA Champions League 11/12
Chelsea vs Benfica
Date: 4 April 2012
Channel 102 - 2:45am - (Live) (Thur Morning)
Benfica boss Jorge Jesus branded Chelsea 'lucky' to be ahead in their Champions League quarter-final and vowed his side would turn the tie around on Wednesday night.
The Blues are odds-on favourites to reach the final four after winning last Tuesday's first leg 1-0 in Lisbon, with only two clubs ever having overturned a home defeat in the competition.
But Jesus insisted his side were capable of becoming the third at Stamford Bridge.
'Chelsea obviously have the upper hand, but we are going to approach this game in the same manner as we would have if we had won the first game,' he said.
'Chelsea had quite a lot of luck in the first match, considering we dominated the match.
'We have the quality to win this game, obviously, and I'm sure that - this time round - we can turn the tables on Chelsea and do the same as they did in Lisbon.'
Jesus added: 'They came out to play for a 0-0 draw and ended up getting a win.
Hair we go: Jesus preaches to the choir at the pre-match press conference
'They'll be dangerous from set-pieces but we need to play an offensive game and cancel out that first-leg advantage.
'We'll go into this game being offensive.
'We need to score to progress, that's obvious, but we'll play an offensive game, an attacking game and I'm sure we can take it to Chelsea.'
Benfica's performance last week belied their reputation of being a scourge of English sides.
They even helped dump Manchester United out of this season's competition after drawing home and away with the Barclays Premier League champions during the group stage.
Now or never: Benfica must overturn a 1-0 deficit at Stamford Bridge
'It's true that we've had good results in the past against English opposition,' former Braga boss Jesus said.
'I also had a good result with Braga against Arsenal, who we beat 3-0.'
Jesus could be forced to play holding midfielder Javi Garcia as a makeshift centre-half, with captain Luisao a major doubt with a knee injury.
'I have more problems than Chelsea ahead of this game,' Jesus said.
The heavens open: Rain pours on Jesus' men
Attacking midfielder Bruno Cesar was as defiant as his manager about Benfica's chances of pulling off one of the greatest shocks in Champions League history.
'Chelsea will feel confident after winning that first game. But we as a team stayed focused, very calm,' the 23-year-old said.
'We respect Chelsea a great deal, but that won't stop us going out and doing our best. We're positive we can go out and beat them tomorrow night.
'It's not impossible.
'We know they have a lot of quality amongst their players and the team but, the again, so do we.
'We're approaching tomorrow's game with a lot of confidence and we're confident we can get the result.'
Although top scorer Oscar Cardozo is the obvious goal threat, summer signing Cesar has proven he can also find the net from midfield.
The Brazil star said: 'I'll try to create movement outside the box as well and get as many shots off as possible.
'We're obviously going to have an open game as we're going to go all out.'
