Chelsea limply departed European competition last night, knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by Jose Mourinho’s well drilled and tactically excellent Internazionale side, who won 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.

Yuri Zhirkov came into the side at left back, whilst a fit again Ricardo Carvalho was only on the bench with Alex preferred. Ross Turnbull was between the sticks in the continued absence of Cech and Hilario.

Ballack and Drogba both had attempts on goal in the first half, which was relatively even until the last five or so minutes. Chelsea didn’t want the half time whistle to blow and when it did, it halted a good period of Chelsea pressure.

The second half started in much the same vain, before Inter knuckled down. Mourinho was in vintage form on the touchline, gesticulating widely as Ancelotti stood, pensieve and emotionless a few metres away.

Joe Cole replaced Ballack and it was Sneider who exploited the sizeable gap left by Ballack’s departure. Pulling the strings now, the Dutchman set up Samuel Eto’o to fire past the previously untested Turnbull.

Cole was woefully ineffective, whilst fellow sub Kalou wasn’t much better. Inter controlled the ball beautifully once they had the lead and in truth, Chelsea never looked like getting the goals they needed.

Didier Drogba was sent off late on for a supposed stamp on Thiago Motta, though the Inter player clearly made a larger deal out of it than was necessary. Eto’o could have iced the cake even later on, but Turnbull distinguished himself by making a fine reaction stop.

In the end though, Ancelotti and more so Ancelotti’s men, were found wanting. Jose Mourinho though, proved why he is still The Special One.

So the special one returns to Stamford Bridge this evening, with fresh digs at Chelsea about how he wins the important games and Chelsea [since his departure] wins something. Nice, okay, but not everybody has been upended by the bluster and forgotten that we didn’t actually win the Champions League under Jose.

We often played appallingly in the group stages, particularly away from home, and came closer under the match maligned Avram Grant. Or the somewhat tame exits from the Carling Cup or the fact that he lost to Inter’s greatest rivals recently. Apart from that, no.

Of course many will be glad to see him back at Stamford Bridge, not least of all the press who will have news to report – Jose ate all the Custard Creams in one sitting, etc. – rather than creating news, and many fans too will be pleased (elated, ecstatic, some might say) to see him back. But just remember, fanboydom makes you blind.

Goes without saying that although he’s much loved, there’s a bit of needle involved in this match and the players will have a point to prove on the pitch. They’d do well to avoid the papers for a few days because if we win it’ll be Jose’s team, if we lose it’ll be Jose the master tactician.

We all have to hope that they get their heads down, get on with the job and, above all, are very patient. If the chances come our way, we must take them but at the same time we must defend well, better than we’ve needed to for a long time. We’ll need to be extra vigilant about the tactics of some of the Inter players, too.

Make no mistake, there will be cheating. Jose knows our history in this competition because he wrote part of it, which means he knows very well the frustration and poor decisions we’ve had to suffer. Don’t think for one moment he won’t use that to his advantage.

We have the away goal, but if Inter score just one we’ll need to score three to prevent extra time. We’re capable of doing that, particularly in the dying minutes of a game, but the pressure would be immense.

Inter don’t travel well, though, with just one win to their name away from home in the last two months, and only two wins from seven home and away. This generally is when Inter dip out of the Champions League, having done so for the last three seasons. Let’s hope that trend continues.

Injury woes continue at Chelsea and tonight we play with our third choice keeper in goal. Far from pointing out his weaknesses, I think the best we can do is wish Ross Turnbull all the very best for this evening, and look to the experience of the players around him to provide the support he’s going to need.

We’ve been here before though. Ambrosio in 2004, and it’s doubtful many will have forgotten Hilario being thrown into the fray against Barcelona after the Reading thugs battered two keepers in one match.

Carvalho returns from injury and is available, so it’s a toss-up between him and Alex, who’s performed well in his last two games, but if Carvalho is truly match fit we can expect him to get the nod for this one.

Fans and players alike will need to be extraordinarily patient, and though most of us would take two or three nil lead after a frenetic 20 minutes of play, how many of us could stand to watch us defend that lead for another 70 minutes? Indeed, none of us.

A match free from controversy and the obvious attentions of Uefa would be nice, but nicer still would be to send Jose home with his tail between his legs so we can get on with our own business, thank you very much.

It’s going to be painful to watch at times. It’s going to be a long match. It’s going to be 3-1 to Chelsea.

Internazionale will travel to Stamford Bridge in just under three weeks with a 2-1 lead to preserve, having defeated Chelsea at the San Siro.

Diego Milito and Esteban Cambiasso scored for Jose Mourinho’s side, whilst Salomon Kalou scored for Chelsea. The Blues also lost Petr Cech to a serious looking injury in the second half.

Florent Malouda was preferred to Juliano Belletti at left back for Chelsea, which mean that Kalou was drafted into the starting line up in Malouda’s usual attacking midfield position.

However, it was Inter that took the lead in just the third minute, Milito drilling home with the first shot of the match. Looking to hit back, Didier Drogba crashed a long range free kick against the bar.

Chelsea should have been awarded a penalty in the last minute of the first half though, when Walter Samuel clearly fouled Kalou who was in on goal. Instead, the referee waived play on and Samuel escaped a red card.

It was Kalou though who equalised, early in the second half. A storming run from Branislav Ivanovic ended with Kalou curling a beautiful finish from outside the area into the far corner. Julio Cesar might have done better, but the placement was perfect from the Ivorian.

Once more, Inter went ahead again in three minutes. Cambiasso’s first shot was blocked by Ivanovic but the Argentine crashed the rebound past Cech to give Inter the lead.

Soon after, the Chelsea keeper picked up a serious looking injury, having caught a cross unchallenged. He immediately signalled to the bench to be subbed and was unable to walk from the field, even assisted.

Hilario was his replacement and could well have a big role to play in the near future, particularly in the return leg with the tie evenly poised at 2-1.

The last 16 of the UEFA Champions League has thrown up an all star clash with Chelsea drawn against Italian giants Internazionale.

More obviously, Carlo Ancelotti, formerly of AC Milan, clashes with former Chelsea coach and favourite, Jose Mourinho in one of the most eagerly anticipated matches in years. The San Siro is the venue for the first leg.

The war of words has started, with Mourinho commenting that the club has gone backwards since he departed and that the players are all but the same as the ones he brought in. Whilst there is an element of truth to this, the pre match bullying tactic is more than familiar.

Injuries have thrown up a problem at left back for Chelsea, with both Ashley Cole and his deputy Yuri Zhirkov out indefinitely through injury.

Paulo Ferreira played there in the second half of the win at Wolves, but he isn’t in Chelsea’s Champions League squad and thus misses out. Ancelotti has named the popular Juliano Belletti as the most likely left back, though Florent Malouda is also an option.

Inter are on top of Serie A and at such a canter that Mourinho is rumoured to be bored with Italian football and seeking a move to somewhere more lively in the summer.

Samuel Eto’o, so often a nemesis for Chelsea whilst at Barcelona, is now at Inter, whilst Wesley Sneijder and former Portsmouth midfielder Sully Muntari will play in midfield.

Ladbrokes have installed Internazionale as slight favourites at 13/8, compared to Chelsea at 9/5. The draw too is favourable, paying 21/10.