Chelsea dig deep and focus on Amsterdam

A second European final in successive seasons was a cause for celebration for the Chelsea FC players and, having seen off FC Basel 1893 with a 5-2 aggregate victory, they turned their thoughts to facing SL Benfica in the UEFA Europa League decider in Amsterdam on 15 May. Eden Hazard said they were determined to bring the trophy home for their fans while Ramires looked forward to meeting one of his favourite sides.

Ramires, Chelsea midfielder
We work hard in order to win titles. We're in the final and will face an opponent we know about. We played Benfica twice in last season's Champions League; they were two difficult games. We know it won't be easy but we have what it takes to win. I've been supporting Benfica throughout the competition, but on the pitch I will of course give my all for Chelsea. I have a lot of affection for Benfica – it's a special feeling to face them – but we will play to win.

Oscar, Chelsea midfielder
We showed what we could do in the second half. We played well in the first too, but we didn't kill the game off. Basel are a good team and made things difficult for us with the goal. There is a lot of speculation [about potential managerial changes] but we have to go about our business, concentrating on the competitions we're in. We have to focus on the present, not next season.

Eden Hazard, Chelsea midfielder
We made a few mistakes in the first half but made up for them after the interval. We deserved to go through. Going 1-0 down was a dangerous scoreline; if they scored once more, we were heading out. But the manager spoke to us, got us going for the second half. Benfica are a team accustomed to playing in big finals, even if they haven't appeared in one for a while. They have technically gifted players but we'll do all we can to bring the trophy home – for the fans and for ourselves.

David Luiz, Chelsea midfielder
Rafa [Benítez, the Chelsea interim manager] works hard with me a lot and I listen to him. Firstly he is older than me and then he has more experience than me – he has more trophies than me, so I need to listen and learn. He tries to teach me every day and I love to learn things. Every day I say thank you to him because he is a fantastic coach. I hope Frank Lampard will score the two goals he needs [to create a club scoring record] and if needs be, of course, I will leave the free-kicks to him.