Back in March Carlo Ancelotti was asked: "You're 10 points ahead with 10 games to go, how can you lose the league?". His reply was simple. "How can you lose a Champions League final when you're 3-0 up?" the Italian flashed back.
Even when you've won Europe's elite competition three times, it seems the losses never leave you. Paolo Maldini and a Hernan Crespo brace capped off one of the finest halves of football from a team in the Champions League final back in 2005 but a Steven Gerrard-inspired Liverpool managed to push the game to penalties for Jerzy Dudek to become an Anfield legend. Three goals from Chelsea's Premier League rivals came in just six minutes during the second half. Chelsea require two to force extra time, but there will be time.
Of course, it will be no easy feat. Karim Benzema proved how potent Real Madrid can be with his hat-trick at Stamford Bridge but a lot can change in two legs of football as Los Blancos proved against PSG in the last 16. Thomas Tuchel still dreams of qualification and Ancelotti still expects a stiff test. He said in his press conference: "Chelsea are coming to fight and qualify. They know very well that it is difficult but they are going to try, that is the spirit of football, of big clubs that never give up."
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When you have been involved in football as long as Ancelotti, it's no wonder he is happy to acknowledge 'you never know'. Indeed, the former Milan boss has been the victim of more than just the comeback in Istanbul during his career. A year before Liverpool's famous night, Milan took a 4-1 lead into the second leg of a Champions League quarter-final against Deportivo La Coruna.
With figures such as Alberton Luque, and Juan Carlos Valeron in the team, the Spanish side were able to win the return match 4-0 to secure their progression, however. Milan were also victims domestically in the Coppa Italia, in a quarter-final. The Rossoneri took 1-0 lead into their second leg against Palmero in 2006 before being defeated 3-0 to crash out of the competition.
Ancelotti's Juventus side found similar issues. Back in 1999 Juventus found themselves in the Champions League semi-final and after playing out a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Old Trafford, quickly found themselves with a 2-0 lead over Manchester United at the Stadio delle Alpi. Roy Keane lifted the Red Devils to victory on that occasion as Alex Ferguson's men found three goals in the remaining 79 minutes to earn their place in the final.
The 1999/2000 season saw a first-leg lead wasted. Juve travelled to Celta Vigo with an advantage thanks to Darko Kovacevic's strike but goals from Claude Makelele and Benni McCarthy helped the Spaniards come away as 4-0 victors in the UEFA Cup.
Ancelotti has come undone from winning positions over two legs less frequently in recent years but has still seen his sides slip up when they have an advantage. In the 62-year-old's first spell with Real Madrid, he saw his team lose a 2-0 lead against Real Sociedad. On that occasion the Spanish giants were two goals to the good after 11 minutes but in the end Carlos Vela's goal in the 76th minute confirmed a 4-2 win for Los Txuri-Urdin
In 2017 Ancelotti's Bayern Munich side gave up a two-goal lead against Wolfsburg in a period that also saw a 3-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League. "We did not play as we wanted. We were slow, without intensity and not compact enough," said Ancelotti in an assessment not dissimilar from Tuchel's after last week's clash. Ancelotti's first season with Everton showed them also give up a two-goal lead when Jordan Pickford concede two Florian Lejeune goals in the 94th and 95th minute against Newcastle for a draw at Goodison Park.
While not a comeback, perhaps the result that gives Chelsea more hope than anything is Barcelona's four-nil win at the Bernabeu however. Ancelotti noted that he prepared for the game incorrectly: “It’s not a problem to take on the responsibility, because I didn’t prepare for the game correctly. Sometimes you do it correctly, sometimes you don’t. I failed in this game, but I’m not making a drama out of it."
Ousmane Dembele's impressive wing play helped to inspire a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and a goal each from Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres, in a performance the Blues will hope they can replicate.
