Benitez wary of Rubin threat

Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez is expecting a tough test in the Europa League quarter-finals after being drawn against Rubin Kazan.

Benitez is well aware of the threat the Russian Premier League side can pose, despite Rubin having a disappointing campaign domestically.

Chelsea reached the last eight of the competition courtesy of a 3-2 aggregate victory over Romanian side Steaua Bucuresti.

“At this stage of the competition every game is tough,” Benitez told Chelsea’s official website.

“They are a good team; they beat Atletico Madrid, and we know they are a strong team.

“They beat Levante, who are doing very well in La Liga, and they also finished ahead of Inter in the group stages.

“They are sixth in the Russian league, which isn’t fantastic, but they have some good players.

“We know about (Ivan) Marcano and (Jose Salomon) Rondon, they are players who can make a difference, so it will be tough.

“The good thing is that we play the first leg at home.

“In another situation you would prefer to play the second leg at home, but in this case, because we have to play so many games, it could be good that we don’t have to travel.

“We don’t know yet where we will play. If it’s in Moscow it will be a synthetic pitch, and if it’s in Kazan it will be on natural grass, so we are waiting to hear.”