With Manchester United and Manchester City shunted into
the second-tier Europa League and Arsenal on the verge of elimination, Chelsea
seems to be the only possible quarterfinalist from a country that provided six
of the last 12 finalists.
Chelsea has a strong pedigree with four semifinal
appearances and an appearance in the 2008 final, but has slipped to fifth in
the Premier League and only managed a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup on Saturday
against second-tier opponents.
While Chelsea coach Andre Villas-Boas acknowledged last
week he has lost the support of some players, Napoli is full of confidence
after an impressive 3-0 win at Fiorentina on Friday.
Edinson Cavani struck twice to take his tally for the
season to 15 in Serie A.
"The first thing that came into my head after the
game is that this is the right path and that we need the same attitude against
Chelsea," Cavani said. "It will be a very hard game for us.
"I want Napoli to win so that we can continue making
history. We won't give up until the end." Defender Hugo Campagnaro is
likely to miss out with a calf injury.
Villas-Boas is hoping captain John Terry and Ashley Cole
are fit after injuries and could recall veterans Didier Drogba and Frank
Lampard in a bid to bolster experience and confidence.
"You need an extra mental push," Villas-Boas
said. "Until you get out of the cycle with a win, for sure it perpetuates
a little bit." Also Tuesday, record nine-time champion Real Madrid is at
CSKA Moscow for the first-leg of its round-of-16 match. Former winners Inter
Milan and Marseille meet Wednesday, when Bayern Munich is at FC Basel.
Madrid goes into the match in fine form domestically,
having won 18 of its last 19 matches to lead Barcelona by 10 points.
Kaka, Marcelo and Sami Khedira are all in contention
after returning for Saturday's 4-0 rout of Racing Santander, but Angel di Maria
has been left out after apparently aggravating a leg muscle injury in his first
appearance of 2012.
The Argentina international scored Madrid's third goal 10
minutes after coming on in the 63rd but fell awkwardly near the end of the
match, appearing to injure the same right leg that kept him sidelined since
December.
Lassana Diarra and Hamit Altintop were also omitted from
a 21-man squad due to injuries, although fullback Alvaro Arbeloa does return.
"Di Maria provides certain characteristics that the
team was without during his absence," coach Jose Mourinho said. "He
changes the pace of the game when we attack and when we defend." Cristiano
Ronaldo leads Spanish league scoring with 28 goals, taking his tally to 120 in
123 games for Madrid. Kazim Benzema's pair of goals on Saturday took his league
tally to 13. Both are likely to face CSKA.
Bayern heads to Basel, which surprisingly qualified from
its group ahead of Manchester United, worried that a season that started
promisingly could end in disaster. The club has fallen four points behind
Borussia Dortmund in the German league after a 0-0 at last-place Freiburg on
Saturday and is now only third.
"The alarm bells are ringing," sporting
director Christian Nerlinger said. "We have to get back on track soonest,
or the season is going to become very depressive." An angry president Uli
Hoeness went to the dressing room Saturday, a sure sign that the front office
is deeply concerned after watching Bayern create few chances against the worst
defense in the league.
"We didn't run enough, we were not aggressive,"
captain Philipp Lahm said. "If you want to win the championship, you have
to play differently." Inter, the 2010 champion, is looking to the
Champions League to rescue its season following a dramatic drop in form
culminating in Friday's 3-0 home loss to struggling Bologna.
Inter had started talk of resurrecting its title chances
after a streak of eight successive victories but has now gone six games in all
competitions without a win - a run which includes five defeats.
Fans protested during and after the game Friday,
clamoring for the return of 2010's treble-winning coach Mourinho.
Claudio Ranieri remains in charge for the time being and
desperately needs a good result.
Diego Milito and Dejan Stankovic are back after missing
the Bologna game with the 'flu. Uruguay striker Diego Forlan is set to make his
European debut for Inter after he was cup tied for the group stage.
