NAPOLI

3 - 1

CHELSEA

Home win: Napoli goalscorers Edinson Cavani (left) and Ezequiel Lavezzi celebrate following the latter's second goal of the evening in Naples.

Andre Villas-Boas’ beloved project went perilously close to going up completely in smoke on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius on Tuesday night. His faith in midfielders like Raul Meireles proved calamitous, leaving an ordinary defence exposed to the counter-attacking verve of Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani.

Villas-Boas’ idea that Meireles offered more defensive security than Frank Lampard in a 4-2-3-1 system would have carried some legitimacy if the Portuguese had actually impressed in recent games. He had not.

By the time Meireles was withdrawn and the stable-door finally closed, the Italian stallion in the elegant light-blue livery had long bolted, almost to the starting gates of the quarter-finals. Meireles’ caution for fouling the terrific Gokhan Inler precludes his involvement in the second leg, a potential blessing for Chelsea.

Lampard and Michael Essien arrived with 20 minutes remaining but the damage was done, the fire was burning out of control, the flames licking at Villas-Boas’ credibility. He really took a gamble on Tuesday night, fielding a starting XI that seemed another riposte to the English old guard. Ashley Cole came on when Jose Bosingwa, an unlikely left-back anyway, pulled his left hamstring after 12 minutes.

This was a chastening evening for Villas-Boas, Chelsea and for those who espouse the primacy of the Premier League. Judging by Arsenal’s humiliation at AC Milan and Chelsea’s skewering here, rumours of Serie A’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Napoli showed a speed of purpose, an exuberance in possession and precision of finish lacking in Chelsea’s movements.