Benitez to take Club World Cup seriously

Rafael Benitez vowed to play a strong side in Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final against Mexican side Monterrey this morning (10.30am), despite admitting his players were still suffering with jet lag.

With Chelsea also in the midst of a punishing schedule and facing injury problems in key positions, Benitez could be forgiven for resting several of his stars in Japan today.

But the Spaniard was determined to field as strong a line-up as possible for the game at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama.