Chelsea's indifferent form continued as a controversial penalty gave Steaua Bucharest a 1-0 victory in Romania over a distinctly off-colour Blues.
Chelsea were not at the races from the word go, and found themselves behind just after the half-hour mark after a hotly disputed penalty was given to the home side.
Ryan Bertrand was adjudged to have fouled danger man Raul Rusescu as he went up for a header, and the top scorer in the Romanian league got up to take the spot-kick himself, smashing the ball under Petr Cech.
Although they initially looked to have woken up after falling behind, Chelsea toiled away, but could not find that cutting edge all evening, and will have to do much better in the return leg at Stamford Bridge.
The reigning European champions looked anything but on the night, starting the game sluggishly, with Fernando Torres receiving little service up front.
Just after the half hour, Bertrand's efforts to beat Rusescu to the ball after getting the wrong side of the hitman resulted in the Romanians getting the chance to take a deserved lead from the spot.
Cech will be disappointed after guessing the right way, but the power Rusescu put on the penalty was enough to beat the unfortunate keeper.
The goal seemed to spark Chelsea into life, creating their best chance of the game almost straight away.
Yossi Benayoun played a neat one-two with Oscar, engineering space on the edge of the box, but Ciprian Tatarusanu in the Bucharest goal got down well to his right to tip the Israeli's tame effort wide.
The second period was a very cagey affair, with attacks breaking down too easily for Rafael Benitez's liking.
Juan Mata was brought on to try and inject some quality into the tie, but even he was having an off night.
Another substitute, Marko Marin, had Chelsea's best attempt at an equaliser, cutting inside well from the left, and forcing a smart save from Tatarusanu.
The very quiet Eden Hazard fired over from a tight angle, and David Luiz's powerful free-kick from distance worried Tatarusanu, but on the night the Blues were just not good enough.
| Steaua Bucharest | Team Statistics | Chelsea |
| 1 | Goals | 0 |
| 1 | 1st Half Goals | 0 |
| 2 | Shots on Target | 3 |
| 6 | Shots off Target | 6 |
| 2 | Blocked Shots | 0 |
| 4 | Corners | 5 |
| 15 | Fouls | 7 |
| 1 | Offsides | 2 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 74.9 | Passing Success | 66.7 |
| 22 | Tackles | 25 |
| 72.7 | Tackles Success | 80 |
| 53.5 | Possession | 46.5 |
| 36.5 | Territorial Advantage | 63.5 |
| 478 | Total Passes | 408 |
| 12 | Total Crosses | 12 |
| 200 | Lost Balls | 206 |
| 67 | Recoveries | 54 |
| 63 | 1st Half Poss. | 37 |
| 46 | 2nd Half Poss. | 54 |
Pressley is close to agreeing a move to npower League One side Coventry after leading the Bairns to the semi-finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.
Smith and assistant manager Stevie Crawford are now expected to take the team for Saturday's trip to Irn-Bru First Division leaders Morton.
And the 73-year-old - who has twice won the Scottish Cup with St Mirren and Aberdeen - says he fancies a third shot at the trophy and could even be persuaded to take the job on a full-time basis.
But Smith conceded that Falkirk chairman Martin Ritchie may decide to place his faith in youth once more and hand the reigns to Crawford, 34 years his junior.
Falkirk face Hibernian in their Hampden semi on April 13.
He told Press Association Sport: "Steven has one or two things to tidy up with Coventry but I think he will be on his way.
"So I will be taking things with Stevie Crawford this weekend and we'll take it from there.
"I wanted to help the club and I expect we will go along on this basis until the end of the season.
"If the club were to ask me to take over on a permanent basis, that wouldn't be a problem for me. When you are a manager for a long time like I was, you do miss certain things when you give it up. Things like the big decisions.
"We have got a big game at Hampden and the rest of the league programme too, so there is a lot going on.
"But Stevie Crawford has also stayed on and being an ex-manager with East Fife himself, the club might decide to give him the opportunity."
Falkirk granted Pressley permission to talk to Coventry City just days after the former Scotland defender led the Bairns to the last four of the cup with a 2-1 win over Hamilton.
He now looks increasingly likely to succeed Mark Robins, who left the Sky Blues to join Huddersfield Town three weeks ago.
And Smith believes his 39-year-old apprentice has got what it takes to lead the fallen giants back up the English football ladder.
He said: "I hope Steven is a success down there - he's got everything you need to be a success.
"If he gets the backing and the finances, he will be fine. He's a very promising manager."
