Chelsea vs. Benfica: Players Who Must Step Up for Blues to Reach Semifinals

Chelsea enters the second leg of its Champions League battle against Benfica with a 1-0 aggregate lead. After the Blues' comeback against Napoli in the last round, they know the job isn't finished. They need a strong showing at Stamford Bridge to finish the job.

Here are three players Roberto Di Matteo will be expecting to step up in order to close the deal. Poor performances from any of them could lead the Benfiquistas to flip the script on Chelsea.

Daniel Sturridge

After a strong start to the season, Sturridge has scored just twice since Christmas. That lack of production has really hurt Chelsea's offense, which has been fortunate to receive a mini-resurgence from veteran Didier Drogba.

Sturridge did score against Aston Villa on Saturday, so maybe that tally will give him the confidence boost he needs to get his game back on track. The 22-year-old English star has the pace to get behind any defense but hasn't been using it effectively.

Pay close attention to his first couple touches of the game. He must be aggressive attacking the Benfica back line to make sure the Blues don't fall into a defensive shell.

Juan Mata

The Blues are at their most effective when Mata creates chances for his teammates using his terrific distribution skills. It seems like opposing teams have been making a concerted effort to ensure he doesn't have any room to work his magic, though.

Benfica was able to keep him under wraps for most of the first leg. So Mata will have to find different ways to set up scoring opportunities for players like Sturridge. The longer he's able to possess the ball, the better Chelsea's chances of winning become.

Mata has enough talent to completely take over a game at any time. The Blues will be looking for one of those outings on Wednesday.

Petr Cech

Cech knows exactly what he needs to do. If Benfica doesn't score, Chelsea advances. The elite goalkeeper knows he will be under siege throughout the match, but if he can pick up the clean sheet it doesn't matter what the Blues' offense does.

He'll need help from his defense, of course, but it usually comes down to the keeper making a couple big saves in marquee games like this. He's done it before, and there's no reason to believe he won't be able to do it again to push his team into the semifinals.

As always, the first save will be the most important. Getting those early butterflies out of the way so he can settle in will allow him to have a strong showing.