Chelsea must keep calm in chaos against Napoli on big night for Liam Rosenior in Champions League | OneFootball

Result more important than performance in hostile atmosphere in Naples

Chelsea face Napoli tonight in their final Champions League league phase match

Getty Images

Having lost 3-1 in the away first leg in Naples in February 2012, Chelsea recovered and prevailed from their Champions League round of 16 tie with a 4-1 win the following month, having hired Roberto Di Matteo as interim manager in the intervening weeks. Chelsea went on, of course, to win their first European crown.

Courtesy of the new Champions League format, there is less jeopardy involved tonight yet still reward to be enjoyed by Liam Rosenior’s team if they can get it right in Italy.

Chelsea sit eighth in a congested table ahead of the final round of games, knowing if they win well and other results go their way then they will confirm one of those all-important top-eight spots that secures automatic qualification to the last 16.

Chelsea hope a win will be enough to secure automatic qualification to the last 16

Chelsea FC via Getty Images

A play-off round awaits those who finish between ninth and 24th, and an unwanted extra two-legged tie in what is already a cram-packed schedule and another gruelling season.

And so Chelsea, one of no fewer than eight teams all on 13 points, know this is a night when the result matters far more than the quality of their performance.

Napoli are offering up a pretty limp Serie A title defence in Italy, where they sit fourth, and will be without as many as seven first-team players tonight due to an injury crisis. Chelsea are lifted by the return of Cole Palmer, who is available again after missing the last two matches with a thigh strain.

Is this to be plain sailing for the Blues then? Well, hold on a moment. Napoli are of course managed by Antonio Conte, who Chelsea know very well, and boast one of Europe’s most ruthless goalscorers. No, not Romelu Lukaku. Not Kevin De Bruyne. Not Rasmus Hojlund. The man who appears next to the great Maradona in murals across Naples: Scott McTominay, truly a Brit reborn abroad.

Perhaps the most significant factor for Chelsea when assessing the challenge ahead is the position Napoli occupy in the Champions League table. They sit 25th, one place outside the play-offs, so are fighting tonight to stay in the competition.

Rosenior's men can expect to be met with a hostile atmosphere in southern Italy, but that is no bad thing if they have serious designs on winning a third Champions League title this term, all three of which would have come in seasons where they’ve changed their manager midway through.

This is no time to get ahead of themselves, though. A clearer calendar ahead and, in theory, an easier opponent in the last 16 is the prize if Chelsea can rubber stamp their top-eight slot in Naples.