Good evening everybody and welcome to tonight's minute-by-minute coverage of Chelsea's record-breaking attempt to become the first defending champions in history to exit the Champions League at the group stages.
In their last outing in this tournament, a 3-0 reverse at the hands of Juventus in Turin that resulted in the sacking of fans favourite Roberto Di Matteo, Rafael Benitez was just an enthusiastic tactics blogger working the international lecture circuit and a small part of him must be pining for those languid, stress-free days as he once again prepares to face the abuse of thousands of Stamford Bridge regulars who seem too scared to target the man who actually sacked Di Matteo and are therefore picking on an easier target for the most spurious of historical reasons instead.
A win against the Group E cannon fodder for Chelsea tonight would be a first in four matches in charge for Benitez, but won't be enough for the champions to avoid the embarrassment of an early exit from the tournament if Juventus secure a point or more against already-qualified Shakhtar Donetsk in the Donbass Arena. But despite the icy cold welcome extended to him by fans of a team whose chances of making the knockout stages are hanging by a thread, Benitez was upbeat in yesterday's pre-match media pow-wow, which you can read all about in our man Dominic Fifield's report.
Chelsea's interim manager Rafael Benitez was upbeat in yesterday's press conference, where he admitted yellow is not really his colour. Photograph: GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images 
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