Club World Cup: Chelsea can improve, says Rafael Benitez

 

Fifa Club World Cup

  • Venues: International Stadium, Yokohama & Toyota Stadium
  • Date: 6-16 December

Coverage: Live coverage of the final (BBC Two/HD/online), and live text commentary on BBC Sport website

Rafael Benitez believes Chelsea can improve on their performance in the Club World Cup semi-final win over Monterrey, urging his players to ensure they win games in style.

The European champions were 3-0 up after 48 minutes but eased off after that before Aldo de Nigris scored a late consolation for Monterrey.

"The team has to think about winning in style and not conceding," said Benitez.

"We won, which is fine, but still these little things can make a difference."

Juan Mata opened the scoring for Chelsea after 17 minutes before Fernando Torres and a Darvin Chavez own goal soon after half time put the game beyond Monterrey.

Club World Cup: Past winners

Carlos Puyol with the Club World Cup trophy
  • 2000 - Corinthians
  • 2005 - Sao Paulo
  • 2006 - Internacional
  • 2007 - AC Milan
  • 2008 - Manchester United
  • 2009 - Barcelona
  • 2010 - Inter Milan
  • 2011 - Barcelona

Chelsea play Corinthians in Sunday's final, and the Brazilian side will undoubtedly pose a tougher test than Monterrey.

"You can never be confident when you play a final, because anything can happen," said Benitez.

"We have a good team and some experience too, but we need to win against any team.

"Corinthians will be tough and Brazilian teams are good teams.

"We are ready and can do it, but we need to play the game."

The win against Monterrey was Chelsea's third in succession, but Benitez was not getting carried away with his side's recent upturn in form.

"Now the team knows what we want to do," he said.

"When I talk about a winning mentality, always I talk about little details making the difference.

"They [the players] have more confidence and are enjoying their football a bit. We still need more time to keep improving."

One of the main positives to come from the game was the promising performance of David Luiz in centre midfield.

The defender was playing in the unfamiliar position to fill the void left by Oriol Romeu, who is out for six months following knee surgery.

"It's an option for the future, but it was mainly for this game," Benitez said of his decision to play Luiz in midfield.

"David is quick and can regain a lot of balls and, at the same time, can play passes to our players."