Rafa Benitez refused to criticise Fernando Torres after another uninspired performance saw him booed off by the Stamford Bridge crowd during Chelsea's shock 2-0 defeat to Swansea in the Capital One Cup.

The £50 million man was withdrawn in favour of Demba Ba on 81 minutes to a less than complimentary reception from the stands as his side trailed to a clinical Michu finish on the stroke of half-time.

It was the first sign that Blues fans have run out of patience with Torres, but Benitez insists his countryman should not be singled out for the defeat, and is adamant he is pleased with his side's performance.

When it was put to him that Ba accomplished more in nine minutes than the man he replaced had mustered in 81, the Chelsea boss countered: "I think we had chances at the end, but as a team we were creating chances from the first minute. It’s not just one player or the striker.

"You have Mata, Ramires, David Luiz – 23 attempts, so if you are playing against a team who is deep and you still have a lot of attempts. I’m happy with the way the team was working. I don’t think we can talk about one player.

"We had a lot of chances, and could have scored two or three in the first half, one or two in the second half. We made two mistakes and paid for them. This is the reality.

"The team was attacking, playing possession and controlling against a good team who were defending."

The atmosphere of anger around Stamford Bridge turned positively poisonous as Danny Graham added a second for the visitors late on, but Benitez insists his team were not distracted by events off the pitch.

"You analyse all these things because we lost, but the way we played, the control we had, the chances we created, is what we have to do," he added. 

"We have to be more clinical in front of goal, but we were doing a lot of things really well."

The Spaniard also defended Branislav Ivanovic, whose two horrendous errors directly led to both goals, and praised the Serb's courage.

"Any player making mistakes is not a big issue," he continued. "The main thing is they try to do things after, and Ivanovic was trying to do his best, and the team was creating chances. 

"It's something that can happen in football, and the main thing is to keep going for the next game."

Swansea's victory - their first at Stamford Bridge since 1925 - leaves Chelsea's Capital One Cup hopes all but shattered, but Benitez remains adamant one goal at the Liberty Stadium could reverse his side's fortunes.

"They have a great advantage, but we have to go there and score a goal, and then we will be in the game," he concluded.

Paris Saint-Germain director Leonardo has refused to rule out a move for Real Madridattacker Cristiano Ronaldo amid ongoing rumours that the Portugal international has set his sights on a move away from the Bernabeu.

The prolific attacker made the headlines earlier this season by admitting that he was unhappy with life at the club, and a number of recent reports have suggested that he has no intention to sign a new contract with los Blancos.

"Cristiano Ronaldo? Paris Saint-Germain have become a club where anything is possible," Leonardo was quoted as saying by L'Equipe.

"However, he still has an ongoing contract with Real Madrid and we have to realise that he will not leave Madrid for just any club.

"When we are discussing a possible transfer for a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, there are only four or five clubs that can be taken into consideration. Paris Saint-Germain are one of those clubs ..."

However, Leonardo was quick to rule out a move for Barcelona star Lionel Messi as well as Premier League left-back Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole.

"[Messi] will never leave Barcelona," he stated. "With [Christophe] Jallet, Maxwell, [Gregory] van der Wiel and [Sylvain] Armand, I think we have what it takes.

"In the future, we will talk about it, but not now. Cole or Evra? No."

PSG reached the last 16 of Champions League with ease, but the former AC Milan coach went on to say that his current side are not favourites to claim the European title.

"It's certain that Barca are the favourites," he continued. "But we can also say that there are seven games until the final ..."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has made a considerable impact since joining the club from Milan in the summer, and Leonardo says his form shows that the player is happy at the club.

"Ibra is not only a great man, he has everything. If Ibra and Thiago [Silva] were not happy here, they would not be playing this way."

By Goal.com

Walcott's camp will meet with club chiefs, including manager Arsene Wenger, contract supremo Dicky Law and chief executive Ivan Gazidis, at London Colney to agree the terms of a new deal.

Goal.com understands that Walcott will be presented with a four-and-a-half year deal that runs until 2017.

Under the new agreement, the 23-year-old's salary will climb from £60,000-a-week to around £90,000-a-week, which will be bolstered by top-up bonuses and a multi-million pound signing-on fee.

As revealed by Goal.com on Monday, both parties anticipate that it will be signed this week, ahead of the Manchester City clash on Sunday.

Walcott has indicated his desire to stay at Emirates Stadium after being verbally offered the improved package by Arsenal during fruitful discussions over the last fortnight.

He has also been encouraged that Arsene Wenger has lived up to his promise of giving him opportunities to play in his favourite centre-forward role.

Walcott has started Arsenal's last five matches up front, scoring four goals, including a hat-trick against Newcastle United. Despite being regularly overlooked by Wenger in the first three months of the season, he leads the club's scoring charts with 14 goals.

Walcott's preference has always been to stay at Emirates Stadium, where he is popular both among staff and with the other players.

Arsenal are confident they will be able to announce Walcott's new contract imminently, which will then allow Wenger to concentrate on reinforcing Arsenal's squad.

The manager has set his sights on acquiring a senior striker from Spain, with David Villa and Adrian Lopez his top two targets.

Securing Walcott's future will be a huge boost to Arsenal after tying fellow Brits Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson to new five-year deals shortly before Christmas.

Walcott, whose contract expires in the summer, is free to sign a pre-contract with a foreign club this month.

Barring any late hitches, that looks unlikely, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool among the leading domestic clubs set to be disappointed that he has committed the prime years of his career to Arsenal.