Chelsea's Ramires Had No Idea His Team Beat Benfica

In what has to go down as one of the most inexplicable gaffes of the season, The Daily Mail is reporting that Chelsea midfielder Ramires apparently missed his team's deciding goal in the first leg of their Champions League tie with Benfica.

The reports indicate that the Brazilian spoke with Portuguese TV directly after the game and expressed his happiness with the 0-0 draw. He went on to say the goalless draw meant any win in the return leg at Stamford Bridge would see Chelsea through to the semi-finals.

Fans were left with mouths agape at the statement because Ramires had done wonderfully to start the movement that resulted in Salomon Kalou knocking in the game's only goal in the 75th minute.

Ramires had taken the ball on the right side, coasting past one defender before releasing Fernando Torres down the right side. Torres steamed in on goal and picked out Kalou in the middle for the tap-in.

As Ramires played Torres, he had been taken out by Benfica's Oscar Cardoza. As a result, the Chelsea man was rolling around the pitch in pain when Kalou scored.

Ramires didn't return to the field until after the ensuing kick-off and presumably simply missed the winner hitting the back of the home team's net.

Chelsea will host Benfica at Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their quarterfinal tie on April 4th. The goal that Ramires missed means that Chelsea only needs a draw to advance to the semifinals, where they would face either Barcelona or AC Milan.