Chelsea didn't do much better than Arsenal on its trip to Italy in the Champions League, leaving English clubs in danger of missing the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time since 1996.
Showing the same kind of defensive frailties that condemned Arsenal to a 4-0 loss at AC Milan last week, Chelsea failed to protect an early lead and lost 3-1 at Napoli in the first leg of their round of 16 matchup.
In Tuesday's other match, CSKA Moscow scored a last-gasp equaliser to draw 1-1 at home against Real Madrid.
While Chelsea still has a realistic chance of turning things around in the return leg at Stamford Bridge, the loss heaped further pressure on manager Andre Villas-Boas, whose self-proclaimed support from owner Roman Abramovich could quickly evaporate if he fails to deliver in the competition the Russian billionaire is most eager to win.
It also means England could be without a team in Champions League come early March, as Manchester United and Manchester City were both eliminated in the group stage.
Chelsea's recent troubles grew worse even before the kickoff, when the club confirmed that captain John Terry will need knee surgery and will be sidelined for up to six weeks.
The visitors still looked set to produce a result when Juan Mata gave them an early lead, but Ezequiel Lavezzi exploited defensive mishaps to score twice and Edinson Cavani added another goal to put Napoli in control.
"It is not impossible to recover 3-1 because of the number of chances we get, and the environment we must create to turn this tie around and go through," Villas-Boas said. "We will analyze strongly what we did wrongly because a couple of things need to get better." It was also a disappointing night for former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, whose Madrid side failed to take its dominant domestic form into Europe.
... contd.
Be the first to comment.