Desailly last played on this stage three years ago when Chelsea were knocked out by Barcelona. His love affair with the competition began when he won it with Marseille in 1993. But after their match fixing/bribery scandal, Marcel went on to AC Milan- and promptly won the Champions League again in 1994, becoming the first man to win it two years in a row with two different clubs.

Expecting that sort of success with Chelsea is a tad optimistic, yet it would appear that Marcel would be grateful just to perform in the Champions League again.

Speaking on ChelseaTV, Marcel said "I watched the highlights of the Manchester United game against Real Madrid. It was such high quality and that's why we want to play against these kind of teams next season."

After returning to the Blues lineup against Sunderland, almost two months since he sustained his hip injury, Marcel admitted it was weird for him not to be playing regularly: "It's been strange for me over this period without playing, but the team have done well. The game against Sunderland also gave us some extra motivation for the Champions League.

"It was difficult for me to start again, but I feel well and I hope I'm going to play against Bolton this weekend at Stamford Bridge."

I reckon four wins out of our last six games will guarantee us Champions League football next season- and give Marcel what he wants!