‘WAKE UP.. OR WE CRASH OUT’

OLIVIER GIROUD has warned Chelsea they have to learn from their mistakes if their Europa League campaign is to end in glory.

The Blues squeaked through to the semi-finals of the competition on Thursday night with a 4-3 win (5-3 on aggregate) over Slavia Prague, and now face Eintracht Frankfurt in a battle for a place in the final in Baku on May 29.

The prospect of an all-English final is still on, with Arsenal overcoming Napoli to book a last-four clash with Valencia.

But Chelsea, a goal up from the first leg, almost blew it in spectacular fashion. They surged into a 4-1 half-time lead with two goals from Pedro (above), an own goal, and a 10th Europa League goal from Giroud (with Blues skipper Cesar Azpilicueta, top).

But Slavia fought back with a brace from Petr Sevcik to leave the Blues hanging on. What should have been a stroll turned into a nervy encounter, and left boss Maurizio Sarri bemoaning the fact that once again his team had faded in a game after a bright start. Giroud, 32, who wants guarantees of more first-team football if he is to agree a new one-year deal this summer, warned: “We need to learn from the mistakes we made in the second half.

“We started the game very well and were very efficient. But we dropped our intensity and made some technical mistakes. “We need to learn to play with the intensity of the first half in the second. Scoring four goals in a half is very nice but, obviously, we should have kept control of the game.

‘We could have put more pressure on the ball. We knew they were not going to give up, so we were under pressure until the end. We need to be more solid.”

Chelsea’s battle to clinch a top-four place continues on Monday when they host Burnley.

Sarri confirmed Eden Hazard, taken off against Slavia after suffering an ankle injury, is likely to be fit and that the injury was not serious.