Graham Potter and his Chelsea side kept their Champions League dream alive with a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund that was all about progression but also meant so much more for the group of players.
Having not scored twice in a game since December 27, the Blues knew that they were up against it, needing to put two past a side that had won 11 games in a row since the World Cup. For the on-watching owners it may have meant just that bit more, too.
Todd Boehly was once again in the stands at Stamford Bridge and capped off a week that saw his emotions rollercoaster around. The 1-0 win against Leeds brought jubilation before one day later the 3-1 Conti Cup final defeat for the women soured things. Champions League progression, the pillar of Roman Abramovich's hire-fire strategy, sent him into lift-off.
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The American was seen at full-time walking across the pitch with co-owner Hansjorg Wyss, sipping a beer as they took in one of the nights to remember at SW6 in recent memory. Although the sporting achievement is what defines owners and players, Boehly can be forgiven if a smile came across his face for another reason.
The Blues invested massively in this squad and it is perhaps a case in point that summer signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella both had their best games in a Chelsea shirt since joining. The major outlay on transfers wasn't set up to deal without Champions League football, that adds financial strain on the club.
There is already pressure to sell off assets, particularly homegrown players, in order to balance the books somewhat in the summer. Every win in Europe eases that strain somewhat.
Before kick-off Chelsea had already banked a healthy £33.68m from prize money for group stage wins, qualification and last-16 participation. Getting into the last eight secures an additional £9.1m at minimum. There is £10.7m waiting if semi-final progression is achieved whilst getting to the final itself is worth £13.3m.
Winning the entire thing would earn £3.8m more. The total amount available is £70.9m with coefficient shares and market pools also to be decided as well. In effect, this would pay for all of the winter signings to play for the club one year due to the ammortized value on the books.
Taking it this way, with Mykhailo Mudryk costing £62m initially in January, over his mammoth contract it costs Chelsea nearly £8m per year for his services. This means that, in effect, getting to the quarter-finals has paid for Mudryk until this time next season. For two businessmen that have had a rocky start to life in London, that's going going to make their post-match chat and drink on the pitch that little bit sweeter.
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