The Europa League receives plenty of flak but a quality final tonight in Amsterdam awaits and I am very much looking forward to it.
A justified criticism is participation in the knockout phase of those teams failing at the Champions League group stage and two such sides contest the showpiece on Wednesday.
Chelsea, still the current European Cup holders, take on Benfica and it should be an entertaining clash.
The Blues, under interim manager Rafa Benitez, will be involved in yet another major final in the Dutch capital and the bookmakers quite rightly make the Premier League side favourites.
I’ve been really impressed with Benfica this term but Chelsea’s experience, and slightly superior quality, gives them the edge and I actually expected them to be shorter than the 1.66 available on lifting the trophy.
This could well go the distance and following the conclusion of the semi-finals I wanted to be with the Portuguese.
However, Benfica have blown the title race domestically since, losing 2-1 to Porto last time out to all but seal their fate, and I’d want bigger than the odds available on them causing a minor upset anyway.
Since the Uefa Cup, and now Europa League, switched to one-off finals 11 of the 15 played have featured three goals or more and I don’t expect a dull evening at the Amsterdam Arena.
In fact, the bet of the night is William Hill’s 1.91 on both teams to find the net and quite why they are so lengthy about that particular outcome is a mystery. It is as short as 1.66 elsewhere and that looks more accurate.
Each of Chelsea’s five previous games in this competition has ended with both sides scoring, as have five of Benfica’s last seven.
There is little doubt both finalists are better on the front foot and there are plenty of match-winners on show.
Even if Fernando Torres fails to fire yet again for Chelsea, Frank Lampard, Oscar and Juan Mata all provide a significant goal threat while Benfica possess a pair of in-form strikers sure to trouble the English side’s defence.
Rodrigo Lima and Oscar Cardozo both know exactly where the goal is and I’d be surprised if this is a cagey encounter with all the attacking talent on display.
3pts Back Both Teams to Score @ 1.91 (William Hill)