Premier League honour will be at stake here on Wednesday as Chelsea attempts to overturn a first-leg deficit against Napoli and prevent England's worst Champions League campaign for 16 years.
Not since the 1995-1996 edition of European football's most prestigious club tournament — when Blackburn Rovers was bombed out in the group phase — has an English team failed to reach the quarterfinals.
The demise of the Premier League's representatives this season contrasts sharply with the dominance of a few years ago, when between 2007 and 2009 English clubs won through to nine out of 12 available semifinal berths. Yet, with Manchester United and Manchester City falling at the first hurdle, and Arsenal eliminated by Milan last week, the Premier League's hopes of survival in Europe now rest with Chelsea.
A 3-1 defeat in the first leg last month marked the beginning of the end for sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas, when the Portuguese coach's risky decision to leave Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole on the bench backfired spectacularly.
Since Villas-Boas's abrupt dismissal, Chelsea has shown signs of a mini-revival, grinding out a 2-0 FA Cup victory at Birmingham last week followed by a 1-0 win over Stoke at the weekend.
Those two results marked the first time in nearly two months that Chelsea had kept clean sheets in consecutive matches, something it will almost certainly need to do if it is to squeeze past Napoli on Wednesday.
Terry returns
Crucially, Chelsea has been buoyed by the sooner-than-expected return of captain John Terry, whose absence was never felt more acutely than in the first leg, when Napoli's vaunted attackers Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi teased and tormented the Blues' defence throughout.
Real Madrid favourite
Real Madrid goes into its quarterfinal second leg with CSKA Moscow full of confidence that it can progress to the last eight after the 1-1 draw achieved in Moscow.
Madrid won all six of its Champions League group games, becoming only the fifth side to do so, and was on course for a seventh victory in the first leg before a last-minute Pontus Wernbloom equaliser gave CSKA an unexpected result.
Jose Mourinho has experience of beating CSKA in the Champions League after his Inter Milan team beat it 1-0 home and away in the 2009/10 quarterfinal on its way to the trophy.
