Can Chelsea save its season?
That will be the question on the minds of the Stamford Bridge faithful when the Blues host Napoli Wednesday night in a second leg Champions League encounter that sees them trailing 3-1 and on the verge of elimination.
In Madrid there may be the odd moment of anxiety, but everything seems to favor Real Madrid booking its place in the quarterfinals against a CSKA Moscow side that starts even on the scoreboard, but certainly not in terms of its chance to spring a major upset.
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In addition, the winners of the knockout round will learn their opponents on Friday. The draw for the Champions League quarterfinal and semifinal stages takes place at 7 a.m. EDT and will covered live on both FOX Soccer and in real-time on our main Twitter feed, @FOXSoccer.
The focus surely will be on London because of what's at stake. Not only does Chelsea's fate hang in the balance with interim manager Roberto Di Matteo facing his first major exam, so does the reputation of the Barclays Premier League. Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United are already out of this season's most prestigious club competition. If Chelsea cannot overturn its deficit, the final eight won't include a Premier team for the first time since 1995-96.
Di Matteo has had little time to put any of his ideas into effect since taking over from Andre Villas-Boas, but he immediately restored Frank Lampard to a key midfield role and welcomed John Terry back from injury last Saturday. Both seemed to help the Blues look more like their old selves, even if it seems that Didier Drogba remains the only truly reliable attacking threat.
If Chelsea can grab a quick goal to put pressure on the visitors, then it will be game on.
There's also a price that might come with using the veterans down the center of the field against a Napoli team that features speed and a real cutting edge in the form of Edinson Cavani, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik. They carved Chelsea apart in the first leg, Lavezzi scoring twice. The final scoreline could have been worse. Given that the Blues have no option but to attack at home, needing a minimum of two goals to stay alive, the back door could well be open to the counters that Italian teams execute so well.
The numbers don't favor the Blues, either. Despite leading in every one of their seven Champions League games this season, they have won only three of them, and they were shut out in each of their last three home knockout stage matches.
In contrast, Napoli has won its last three Champions League games and performed very well on English soil in the group stage at Manchester City. They also are coming off a 6-3 rout of Cagliari last Friday night in Serie A.
Cavani - with five goals and a pair of helpers - has been dynamite for Napoli in Europe this season, involved in more than half of their goals. The Uruguayan, partnering so effectively with Lavezzi, figures to get his chances at Stamford Bridge, so the key to Chelsea turning the tables may well depend on how well they can contain the main Napoli threat.
CSKA trying to channel Barcelona
Real Madrid looked to be coasting a 1-0 first leg victory in Moscow only for CSKA's Pontus Wernbloom to pop up with a shock equalizer three minutes into stoppage time.
The night really had belonged to CSKA's third-choice goalkeeper, Sergei Chepchugov, who stifled Real Madrid time and again, although there was nothing he could do about the Cristiano Ronaldo goal which had put Jose Mourinho's bunch in the driver's seat.
With Real Madrid so dominant in La Liga, you would expect that Mourinho is now targeting a Champions League final berth for his talented since. That doesn't augur well for the Russians, who were unable to take advantage of their home, artificial pitch in the first leg and would seem to be headed into the lion's den in Spain.
But CSKA may have history on its side. Although Real Madrid is playing in the knockout stage for the 15th consecutive year - the longest current run for any of the remaining sides - the Russians have never lost a European match against a Spanish rival.
Real, however, must start as the heavy favorite. Ronaldo is having a remarkable year, and the supporting cast looks as good as anyone's. Mourinho has to decide among the likes of Karim Benzema, Gonzalo Higuain and Kaka to accompany Ronaldo up front and the embarrassment of riches stretches right through the side.
One more stat is probably worth noting: Mourinho has been on the losing side only three times in his last 30-plus Champions League matches. Each time, the loss was to Barcelona.
CSKA may come to Madrid on level terms, but they aren't Barcelona.
