Benitez confident over return leg

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG
Date: Tue 22 April Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: Anfield
Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, the BBC Sport website (UK only) and BBC Radio Merseyside, full text coverage on BBC Sport website and mobiles, live on ITV1

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Benitez's men have shaded Chelsea in both previous semis

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez insists his team can reach the Champions League final despite having to play the second leg of their semi-final at Chelsea.

Benitez's men beat Chelsea in 2005 and 2007 with the second leg at Anfield.

The Reds have never scored under him at Stamford Bridge but he said: "We have experience in difficult away games.

"This year in Marseille we needed to win and we scored four goals. The team has enough confidence and quality to score and win in any stadium."

Despite his confidence in his players' attacking potency, Benitez acknowledges a clean sheet at Anfield could be the key to seeing off the Blues again.

In 2005, Liverpool scored the only goal of the tie in the second leg and last year they went through on penalties, after both teams won their home leg 1-0.

"We prefer more than one goal but at the end of this kind of game, between two top sides at this level, a small difference can be a massive difference.

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"We are playing well at home and away, we have confidence, but we know Chelsea are a very good team defensively so it will be difficult.

"We need to be patient, not make mistakes, keep control of the game and create chances.

"We know it's difficult to score there and it will be important to score here and not concede."

Benitez got the better of former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho in their duels on the European stage.

And the Spaniard insists the Blues will be no easier to beat under his successor Avram Grant.

"He's doing a good job," Benitez added. "They are a very good team.

"Tactically they are good, they have balance, they are good in attack defence, counter-attack, and at set-pieces.

"So it's more or less what they had before - they have quality."