While others in the Chelsea hierarchy talk up the importance of the Premier League, their Russian owner would gladly settle for sacrificing domestic honours, and probably scaling Mount Kilimanjaro, for Champions League glory.

 

Interestingly, the man brought to the club to end their Euro jinx, Carlo Ancelotti, discussed the importance of reaching the final first and foremost in the run-up to their opening game of the competition.

But surely he is aware of the mandate that came with accepting the manager’s job at Stamford Bridge and the minimum target is nothing less than ending Chelsea’s long wait for the holy grail.

Their narrow victory over Porto in Group D may not have set a benchmark for potential champions, but their gritty determination was characteristic of their league campaign so far.

In three out of their five wins, they had to come from behind and two victories were only secured in injury-time. While it may be perceived as a weakness to gift sides a one-goal lead, and it’s true they can’t afford to do it against better opposition, it provided the Blues with the opportunity to show their character and perseverance to recover from those deficits and keep their 100% record intact.

The team seems to playing with confidence, belief and a spirit which could be galvanized further by the transfer ban, for this season at least.

Of course it’s worth pointing out that Chelsea began life under Luiz Felipe Scolari with as much verve and panache. The first-half of last season saw the Stamford Bridge side register a club-record 11th successive win on the road, but relations between player and coach gradually deteriorated and once the Brazilian lost the dressing room, results declined rapidly.

In Ancelotti however, the Blues have a manager who is experienced at the highest level in Europe. Despite his World Cup winning exploits with Brazil, Scolari was still an unknown quantity in club management and the task of turning around Chelsea’s fortunes proved too much.

That’s not to say there isn’t a chink in Ancelotti’s armor either. Two European Cups and the Serie A title as manager confirms his pedigree, but AC Milan’s recent history has been overshadowed by city rivals Inter who have won the Scudetto four years running.

One of the reasons for the dominance can be attributed to the match-fixing scandal that saw Milan deducted points and Juventus relegated, and the time needed to recover allowed Inter to build a massive gap between themselves and the rest.

But there was no excuses for Milan in that memorable 2005 Champions League final, when the Rosseneri squandered a three-goal lead and lost on penalties to Liverpool. It wasn’t the first time a three-goal margin was wasted under Ancelotti. In 2004, having led the first-leg of their quarter-final 4-1, Deportivo La Coruna won the second-leg 4-0 to progress.

And during Ancelotti’s stint at Juventus, The Old Lady were beaten 3-2 in a semi-final by Manchester United in 1999 – despite opening up a two-goal lead at the Stadio Delle Alpi.

It demonstrates that, in the past, Ancelotti’s sides haven’t always possessed the mental strength to close out games from seemingly unbeatable positions.

But its not always about mistakes – it’s how you pick yourself up from them and the 50-year-old has built some great sides around the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso and Kaka in the wake of those setbacks.

All great managers have a blemish somewhere on their CV and Ancelotti is as well equipped as anyone to lead Chelsea to a maiden triumph in the Bernabeu next May, along with landing the trophy their owner so dearly craves.