A load of bollocks, surely? I guess it call comes down to what you call a "weakened team" - Mikel and Lampard played on Tuesday night and will be fit for the game this weekend. They can't play in the return leg so there is no reason to leave them out. Central defenders should be capable of three games in nine days. They generally only play one striker, and many of their highly thought of players were on the bench during the week, so clearly they have the ability to rotate. Outside of their fullbacks and perhaps Ramires, I'm unsure who they're supposed to be resting and how much "weaker" that would make their team.
