Ramires Backs Chelsea Midfield Trio To Prove Crucial In Club World Cup Final

Ramires has featured for both teams in his club career, winning the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea and the Copa Libertadores with Palmeiras.

Chelsea progressed to the final after beating Al-Hilal 1-0 in the semi-finals thanks to Romelu Lukaku’s strike while Palmeiras saw off Al Ahly 2-0.

Talking to Globo Esporte, he said: “Palmeiras is a competitive team and very dangerous when they have room to use Rony and Dudu's speed, with Veiga loading.

“The strength of this Chelsea, in my view, is the great ability to control their midfield, with Jorginho, Kovacic and Kante, apart from the presence of Lukaku, who is going through a great moment.

“I believe that's where the game will develop, with teams looking to take advantage of these qualities.”

Ramires was part of the last Chelsea side to play at the Club World Cup in 2012, losing 1-0 to another Brazilian side Corinthians in the final but he expects the current crop of players to have a better chance this time.

The Brazilian continued: “I see this current Chelsea very strong too. Maybe it's a team with a little more ability to propose the game than our team was, since admittedly we had our defence and our speed counterattack as strong.

“From the games I saw in the last Champions League, the team now has pieces in the squad to make a greater variation, depending on what the match requires.”