Benitez plays down influence on Torres revival at Chelsea

Dec 10, 2012 10:20:00 AM

The 52-year-old says it is more important that the striker has a good relationship with his team-mates than with his manager after he led the Blues to two victories in a week

Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez has played down his influence on Fernando Torres after the striker returned to form by netting twice against both Sunderland and Nordsjaelland.

The Spain international had failed to find the target in six consecutive games before he tallied twice in the Champions League on Wednesday. He then helped to lead Chelsea past the Black Cats as Benitez secured his first Premier League victory since taking over at Stamford Bridge.

Torres worked with his compatriot to great effect at Liverpool but the former Valencia coach says that it is more important that the forward has a strong relationship with his team-mates than with him.

"As a manager I give advice to the players so that they can play better on the pitch," Benitez told reporters.

"That's one job for a manager, but for Torres and other players the important thing is how they relate to their team-mates.

"When Torres gets a good position and his team-mates create scoring chances, he can be better involved in them. The manager can communicate with the players, yes, but when a player is in good form it's largely because of his team-mates."
Benitez was speaking ahead of the upcoming Club World Cup in Japan, which Chelsea have qualified for as a result of their Champions League victory earlier in 2012.

The Blues will face Monterrey in the semi-finals of the competition after the Mexican club beat Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea on Sunday. Al Ahly of Egypt and Corinthians of Brazil will contest the other final four tie.

"I'm happy to be back in Japan," Benitez said. "The Club World Cup is a very important competition and we want to win it. We'll gain a lot of experience from appearing in this tournament so we want to take advantage of the chance.

"Everyone at the club and I feel the same way. If we have a chance to win a trophy that's right in front of us, we're going to try to win it. We're fighting to win. It doesn't matter if it's the Champions League or the Capital One Cup. We have a chance right here and right now so we're going to try to win it."

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Champions League final - LIVE!

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

6:40 PM BST

And now the Bayern line-up! The only small surprise here is that Jerome Boateng has been preferred to Daniel van Buyten alongside Dante at the heart of the defence. As expected, Mario Mandzukic has got the nod up front ahead of Mario Gomez.

Bayern Munich: Neuer; Lahm, Dante, Boateng, Alaba; Martinez, Schweinsteiger; Robben, Muller, Ribery; Mandzukic.

6:36 PM BST

Borussia Dortmund have announced their starting line-up for tonight's Champions League final!! And it's as we predicted, with Kevin Grosskreutz starting on the left-hand side and Marco Reus moving infield to fill the void left by the injured Mario Gotze.

Dortmund XI v Bayern: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gundogan, Bender; Blaszczykowski, Reus, Grosskreutz; Lewandowski.

6:31 PM BST

Questions rolling in for our own Carlo Garganese over on Twitter, the most left-field of which comes 'I'm Moeg, Sien jy! ‏@MurGyver 34s', who writes:

"Is it true that players can't wear underwear in the final?"

Surely you have to log on now for no other reason than to find out the answer to that cracking enquiry?!

6:26 PM BST

Bayern have arrived at Wembley! The legendary Lothar Mattheus will obviously be cheering on die Roten this evening, but he is just hoping that Fussball is the winner tonight:

"The whole world will watch the game," the World Cup winner told Sky Sport Germany. "It electrifies the masses. Never before there was so much talk about a Champions League final than this time.

"Both groups of fans know the whole world is watching. We have to present ourselves similar to the way we did at WC 2006 because it brings a lot of sympathy. Today we have another chance to present Germany in a positive way."

Unfortunately, there were reports of some clashes between rival sets of fans earlier in the day, but, happily, the atmosphere at the ground is wonderfully good-natured.

6:18 PM BST

Former Dortmund goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was present at the Champions League festival earlier and he is tipping his former side for the title: "I think Bayern are a little stronger but if I was to have a bet, I would bet on Dortmund because that would win me more money!"

However, our tipster Hugh Wilson reckons that the value is a punt on both sides scoring in the first half ...

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