Luiz sets sights on Europa League

Chelsea defender David Luiz says the club will go all out to win the Europa League this season after being dumped out of the Champions League.

Despite hammering Nordsjaelland 6-1 at home on Wednesday, Chelsea failed to qualify for the knock-out stages, after they finished third in their group behind Juventus and Shakhtar Donetsk.

The result means the Blues become the first-ever reigning champions to crash out at the group stage, but the Brazilian believes playing in Europe’s second-tier tournament is no punishment as they still retain the chance of winning more silverware.

“I look now at the Europa League like the Champions League. It’s glamorous for me because I don’t have this title, so I want to win it,” Luiz told reporters.

“We won the Champions League last season and this season we went out in the group, it’s a little bit sad but at the end of the day we’re looking at another competition for the future.”

Team-mate Cesar Azpilicueta echoed Luiz’s thoughts by claiming the Europa League still represents a trophy of some stature, and said the side will do their best to try and win it.

“It’s true that it is not the Champions League but it’s a big trophy in Europe. Everyone wants to win and we need to keep our ambition to win this trophy,” he said.

“We have qualified for this tournament so we are going to win games and going to (try to) win the trophy.”