Rafa Benitez's Chelsea face one of their most important season finishes

So the last time I wrote about Chelsea, my words didn’t exactly translate into reality as the reigning European champions haven’t done too well ever since the shock appointment of Rafa Benitez. Already (virtually) out of the Champions League at the time, Chelsea went on to lose the Club World Cup final whilst also getting knocked out by eventual winners Swansea in the Capital One Cup semifinals.

If this wasn’t bad enough, when former manager, Roberto Di Matteo got sacked, Chelsea were only 4 points behind table toppers Manchester United at the time. Now however, they are a massive 22 points behind Manchester United in 4th place at the time of writing and are in danger of not finishing in the top four for the second season in a row.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel as Chelsea beat Manchester United earlier today in the FA Cup to reach the semifinals but that’s only further contributing to an already congested fixture schedule  - which will definitely cause fatigue and possible injuries (like the injury to Ashley Cole today) – and isn’t doing Rafa any favours whatsoever as this could be one of the most important season finishes for Chelsea in a long time.

A tough schedule started poorly with a 2-1 loss to Southampton in the league, making it the first of 4 games to be played in only 8 days as well as the first of 6 games in 16 days. Things aren’t helped by the fact that most of Chelsea’s squad have been overworked already, having played in 7 tournaments due to their Champions League and FA Cup triumph last May, with the Europa League still in contention.

Having been overtaken by Spurs in the league table, Chelsea are also only 2 points ahead of 5th placed, Arsenal – who seem to have struck form at the right time with 4 wins in their last 5 games in all competitions – with the Blues still having to play Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton in the league.

Rafa has a huge task on his hands – not only has he failed in winning the fans over but poor results have taken Chelsea away from contending for the title to even missing out on the Champions League places. Di Matteo took a huge risk last season, not focusing on  the league and only on the FA Cup and Champions League – if it hadn’t panned out however, Chelsea would have made huge losses and are at a risk of doing exactly that this season at this rate.

Priorities must be made as two trophies can still be won but are they worth winning at the expense of European football? Should Rafa rest his players for the FA Cup semifinals and Europa League games against Rubin Kazan?

Another aspect which makes Chelsea’s end of season finish even more interesting is what it means for next season. Given the unstable nature of the Chelsea job, many believe Chelsea legend, Jose Mourinho is returning to Stamford Bridge next season. While it may be possible, would the Real Madrid boss come with no lure of Champions League football?

This is a crucial period for Chelsea, and who would have thought a few years ago that one of the most important end of season finishes for the London club would be decided by how Rafa Benitez handles the job?