PARIS, March 6, (AFP): They could both be forgiven for dreaming of more lucrative adventures in the Champions League come next season, but on Thursday Chelsea and Tottenham will have their eyes focused on a place in Europa League semifinals. Both must put thoughts of the Champions League aside at least for 90 minutes as they prepare to meet Steaua Bucharest and Inter Milan respectively. Spurs, twice winners of Europa League predecessor tournament the UEFA Cup, would have been competing in the Champions League this season, had Chelsea’s triumph in the final over Bayern Munich not torpedoed those ambitions.

However, the Blues themselves suffered the heartache of being dumped into the Europa melting pot when they became the first Champions League winners to exit the group stage. Much water has flowed under Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge since they saw off Bayern, with Champions League-winning coach Roberto Di Matteo unceremoniously sacked and Rafa Benitez installed as an interim measure — to the dismay of many of the club’s supporters. Yet Benitez, while recognising that Champions League qualification is the overriding goal, would happily lift a trophy which would enable Chelsea to complete the set of European Cup, the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup and also UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League.

To date, only Bayern, Ajax and Juventus have managed to win all three. Benitez has to juggle with the additional burden of a top four league finish with next weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester United also looming. “We have to go to Bucharest before we can concentrate on (the United) game,” he insisted.
Benitez has a selection dilemma regarding skipper John Terry, who is returning from a knee injury, while Gary Cahill is getting over a virus, leaving Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz as central defensive partners.
The former Liverpool boss, who won the Champions League at Anfield and the UEFA Cup with Valencia, said of Terry: “He’s training. Match fitness and training sessions are two different things and he’s improving.”
Spurs counterpart Andre Villas-Boas can be satisfied that his side are on a roll after beating Arsenal to move third.

The tie will have a job to reach the thrill levels of the Champions League group matches agasint Inter two seasons ago, when Gareth Bale hit a hattrick in the San Siro only to finish on the losing side before Spurs won the return. Team-mate Michael Dawson says with Bale around anything is possible. “He’s one of the best players in the world at the moment, and probably the best in the world for me right now.” Villas-Boas has already won the tournament with Porto, two years ago before his ill-fated spell at Stamford Bridge.
Spurs have twice lifted the UEFA Cup, which Inter have themselves won on three occasions, and the hosts will beware of a side which can boast five wins in six matches on their European travels this term.
Newcastle complete the English contingent but, in the absence of injured skipper Fabricio Coloccini, face a trip into the unknown as they take on Guus Hiddink’s Anji Makhachkala of Russia in Moscow.
Makhachkala have won all their “home” games to date, including a group success over Liverpool. The Caucasus-based side play their home matches in Moscow as their home republic of Dagestan is deemed too dangerous.

Newcastle coach Alan Pardew said: It would be massive if we could beat this team. They are a really strong side.” Particularly as they include former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o.
Other ties see former European champions Benfica host Bordeaux and Stuttgart take on Lazio, who have to play two home European matches behind closed doors for their fans’ racist behaviour.
In London, Tottenham Hotspur captain Michael Dawson hopes his “dream” of an England recall could yet be realised should he maintain his recent impressive club form.
Dawson was put on the transfer list by Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas before the start of this season and could have joined London rivals Queens Park Rangers instead.

Since then the 29-year-old central defender has forced his way back into a Tottenham team now fighting for a Champions League place while London rivals QPR are involved in a desperate scrap for Premier League survival. British newspaper reports Wednesday suggested Dawson could now receive the additional reward of an England call-up when manager Roy Hodgson names his squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro. “It would be a dream (to be recalled),” Dawson, who hasn’t played for England for nearly two years, told TalkSPORT radio on Wednesday. “I got asked this question when I first got back into the Spurs team. Then, I just had to concentrate on staying in the Tottenham team.”

“Now I’m playing regularly for Tottenham...Fingers crossed. It would be nice to get that England call-up.”
Villas-Boas recently said he’d made a mistake by letting Dawson speak to QPR, and the player himself is grateful to the Portuguese for giving him a second chance at Spurs. “The gaffer (manager) has been very honest with me from day one,” the former Nottingham Forest man said. “I spoke to him after pre-season and he told me there might not be as many opportunities as I would have liked. It was my decision to stay and fight for my position. “I was out there every day training hard and thankfully the manager has seen that and he has put me back in. “As a player you can only ask for honesty. The manager has been great. I’m glad to be back playing.”