Chelsea's ordinary defence leaves Andre Villas-Boas exposed as Napoli take two-goal lead to Stamford Bridge

It is not over, of course. Chelsea will still believe that they can recover on March 14 at Stamford Bridge but they must beware going gung-ho with Lavezzi and Cavani lurking. Lavezzi never stopped running, never stopped seeking to accelerate into the generous gaps in Chelsea’s defence.

Cavani was magnificent, leading the line adroitly, dropping off, creating, and also scoring. Such was the Uruguayan’s excellence that plaudits flowed from his peers. “Cavani is the type of player I’d pay to go and see game comes easy to him, natural,’’ Rio Ferdinand tweeted. “He will cost someone a lot of money soon.’’ The third member of Napoli’s attacking triumvirate, Marek Hamsik, also impressed at times. As well as such talent, history is also against Chelsea. The annals of the Champions League reveal that only three teams have ever overturned a two-goal deficit.

The odds are against Villas-Boas’s side, especially with a back-line painfully missing the leadership and organisational skills of John Terry, who undergoes an exploratory operation on his knee today and is expected to be out for up to six weeks. Branislav Ivanovic, usually reliable, struggled. Gary Cahill never looked international class. David Luiz continues to resemble a midfielder on nervy work experience in defence. If only they had demonstrated the defiance of their fans, who kept the blue flag flying high and just about visible through the plumes from the flares of the local tifosi. This was another crazy night at Stadio San Paolo.

Napoli’s famed attacking trident was soon spotted, its cutting edge glinting menacingly in the floodlights. Lavezzi was first to show, darting down the left, showing the type of precision that was eventually to put Chelsea’s defence to the sword.

Cavani was soon racing in behind Cahill and denied by a fine save from Petr Cech. Hamsik then targeted Bosingwa, whose hamstring gave up.

Cole duly arrived. Better late than never. In front of Cole, Florent Malouda briefly rolled back the years, embarking on a run deep into enemy territory before Paolo Cannavaro cleared. Napoli’s defence was never convincing and Daniel Sturridge and Juan Mata managed to insinuate their way into space at times.

Mata was playing in the hole behind Didier Drogba with Ramires and Meireles anchoring. Chelsea dared to dream after 27 minutes.

Sturridge, found by Drogba on the right, had sent in a fairly meek cross which hit a bobble, deceiving Paolo Cannavaro, who skied his clearance. Mata pounced, controlling the ball and guiding it firmly past Morgan De Sanctis.

Napoli were stunned, Chelsea jubilant. Yet not all of Villas-Boas’ players celebrated with Mata. His defenders, particularly Luiz and Cahill, seized the opportunity to host a quick summit conference in how to deal with Napoli’s attackers.

Chelsea were impressing for now, attacking hungrily. Drogba, showing good awareness of Sturridge’s run, somehow coaxed the ball out of a cul-de-sac and released the England international. Sturridge sped downfield, unfortunately eschewing Mata gliding towards the far post.

Sturridge hurtled into the box but Napoli blocked off his route to goal.

Chelsea still had a corner, still had an opportunity to exploit Napoli’s slightly shaky defence. Mata swept the ball in, De Sanctis flapped, Luiz lost Cannavaro but the Brazilian headed over. Huge chance. Huge miss. Huge moment in this tie.

From possibly 2-0 up, Chelsea were soon 1-1. Not for the last time, Chelsea were too slow to react decisively to unfolding danger. When Lavezzi collected possession 20 yards out, Meireles was embarrassed by the Argentine’s twitch of hips and sleight of foot. Suddenly the goal opened up and Lavezzi fired past Cech.

Still Chelsea gave their fans hope. Ramires went on one of those buccaneering runs of his but shot wildly over. A 1-1 half-time scoreline would still have been acceptable for the visitors but Chelsea’s concentration dissolved on the cusp of the interval. Deep into the three minutes of injury time, Chelsea’s defensive frailties were again brutally exposed.

Napoli simply accelerated through the gears, running over Chelsea. Hamsik stroked the ball back to Inler, who lifted the ball across towards the far post and there was Cavani, stealing in ahead of the sluggish Ivanovic, playing the poacher with his shoulder.

Chelsea actually started the second half the stronger, pushing Napoli deep, before Lavezzi capitalised on hapless defending by Luiz and another shot arrowed past Cech. Napoli should have made it 4-1 but Christian Maggio’s shot was cleared off the line by Cole. Drogba and Lampard almost threw Chelsea a late life-line but the project looked beyond saving.