Andre Villas-Boas denies he has inherited a Chelsea squad so scarred by their Champions League failures that they were further away than ever from winning club football's ultimate prize.
Villas-Boas this summer became the seventh manager charged by billionaire owner Roman Abramovich with delivering European glory and will begin his first attempt to do so on Tuesday when the Blues kick off their Group E campaign against Bayer Leverkusen.
Villas-Boas, who will be making his managerial debut in the competition on Tuesday, said: "I don't think there's a mental block. There's some kind of unpredictability that can take you all the way to the final sometimes. Other times it doesn't."
The 33-year-old, who worked as a scout under Jose Mourinho when Chelsea lost two semi-finals to Liverpool, added: "It always depends on the draw that you get.
"This club has been present in semi-finals. We came close in the first one against Liverpool (in 2005). Then they made it to the final, where they merited it.
"They were close again when Barcelona reached that first final for Pep Guardiola's team (in 2009). We've been close to getting it. We'll just try to be close again this season to go all the way."
With Abramovich having unceremoniously dismissed almost every other manager who failed in that quest, it seems certain Villas-Boas will have to deliver the Champions League if he is to remain in charge longer than his three-year contract.
But he said: "It will become never-ending if we address it like this. I don't think I'll be judged on it."
With Barcelona having swept all before them last season and looking potentially even stronger this term, it would be unfair to judge Villas-Boas should he fall short in his debut season.
"It's not just Chelsea as a top European club who haven't won it. Our time will eventually come. We just have to focus on making it one of our objectives, as it has been for the past few seasons," he added.
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