Chelsea boss Rafael Benítez in awe of Man United’s attacking options

Rafael Benítez admits he is in awe of the attacking options Manchester United have at their disposal ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup trip to Old Trafford on Sunday.

Both teams head into the FA Cup quarter-final clash on the back of European defeats, with Manchester United having lost 2-1 to Real Madrid on Tuesday and Chelsea being beaten 1-0 in Steaua Bucharest on Thursday in the Europa League.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s men are 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and are top scorers after having netted 68 goals so far this term.

And Benítez admits his Chelsea side are in for a difficult test when they take on the Red Devils for a place in the semi-finals.

“It will be a tough game against a good team who are top of the table,” said Benítez. “It’s an away game for us, so we know it will be difficult but we are confident we can go through.

“If you analyse the squad they have, they have four strikers and two players in each position that could play for any team. They have a strong squad and even when they make changes they keep the quality.

“In attack, they have Chicharito, [Danny] Welbeck, [Wayne] Rooney and [Robin] van Persie, and they can play any of them.

“If you look at the players they have in wide areas and in the middle, especially if they are winning, in the last 20 minutes they still have players like [Ryan] Giggs and [Paul] Scholes to bring on.”

The Spaniard added: “It’s always a difficult game. They have a very good team, they are experienced and they are very competitive

“Playing against a top side like United you know that anything can happen, you can win or lose.”