Although Karim Adeyami’s breakaway goal in Germany last month gave the Bundesliga side the edge, the Blues have usually risen to the occasion in return matches at Stamford Bridge. Indeed since our first appearance in an official UEFA competition in 1970/71, we have come from behind on home soil to win nine of the 14 knockout ties in which we trailed at the halfway stage.

The precedent was actually set in the 1965/66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, an unofficial forerunner to the UEFA Cup, when we recovered from losses against Wiener Sport-Club in Austria and AC Milan in Italy during our run to the last four. We also staged another fine comeback at the Bridge to recover from two goals down to force a replay against Barcelona in the semi-finals before we eventually bowed out of the competition.

In the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971, we had to come back from two goals down once again when we met Club Bruges in the quarter-finals.

Peter Houseman and Peter Osgood missed the first leg in Belgium through injury and suspension respectively, but they had a huge impact in the return game as Houseman pulled one back midway through the first half before Osgood levelled things up nine minutes from time to send the match to extra-time.

The King of Stamford Bridge struck again in the 114th minute to put us ahead for the first time in the tie before Tommy Baldwin rounded off a memorable 4-2 aggregate triumph. We marched on to lift European silverware for the first time with victory against Real Madrid in the final.

After an absence of 23 years from Europe, Chelsea returned to the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1994/95 and there was a sense of déjà vu when we again faced Bruges in the last eight and required another comeback at the Bridge after we conceded a late winner in the first leg in Belgium.

But summoning the spirit of 1971, Glenn Hoddle’s side levelled the aggregate score through Mark Stein. Paul Furlong then grabbed the winner when he fired home from the edge of the box on a swift counter-attack which he had started 20 seconds earlier by clearing the ball from his own six-yard box following a corner for the visitors.

While our continental adventure came to an end when we failed to overcome a 3-0 deficit against Real Zaragoza in the semi-finals, our next appearance in the competition three seasons later saw us lift the trophy for a second time after we twice recovered from first leg defeats on the road.

After going down 3-2 to Tromso in a second-round encounter played in a blizzard in the Arctic Circle, we did much better back on the green grass of west London as we thumped the Norwegian side 7-1 with Gianluca Vialli notching a hat-trick.

Vialli was our player-manager by the time we faced Vicenza in the semi-finals but it looked like the Italian side were heading to the final when Pasquale Luiso’s strike after 32 minutes put them 2-0 up on aggregate with the bonus of an away goal.

The Blues had to score three goals in under an hour but we produced a stirring response with Gustavo Poyet firing home a quick response and Gianfranco Zola heading in a fine cross by Vialli early in the second half, before Mark Hughes controlled a massive clearance by Ed de Goey and found the net with a brilliant half-volley on the turn in the 76th minute to seal a memorable triumph.

In our maiden Champions League campaign in 1999/2000, we were on the wrong side of a comeback in the quarter-finals as Barcelona recovered from a 3-1 loss at the Bridge to advance. However, we got our revenge in 2005 after a pulsating last-16 clash against the Catalans.

Chelsea trailed 2-1 from the first leg but we quickly turned things around as goals by Eidur Gudjohnsen, Frank Lampard and Damien Duff in the opening 19 minutes in London put us in control with a 4-2 advantage.

The visitors recovered, however, with a brace by Ronaldinho before half-time giving them the edge on away goals. It made for an exhilarating second half as both sides created opportunities to win the tie before John Terry headed in a Duff corner late on to settle the matter.

Turkish side Fenerbahce held a 2-1 advantage in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2008 but a near-post header by Michael Ballack after four minutes in London put us on top on away goals,

While the Blues had to endure some nervy moments after that early strike, we held on to the precious advantage and finally sealed victory when Lampard turned in Michael Essien’s low cross for our second three minutes from time.

Perhaps our greatest European comeback on home soil came during the glorious run to our first Champions League title in 2012 when we came from 3-1 down to see off a very good Napoli side.

Headed goals by Drogba and Terry and a penalty clinically despatched by Lampard, after the Italian side had regained the aggregate lead, sent a thrilling encounter to extra time and set the stage for Branislav Ivanovic to thump home a memorable winner.

There would be another brilliant last-16 comeback win at the Bridge a year later, this time in the Europa League.

After losing 1-0 in Romania to Steaua Bucharest, the Blues got back on level terms through Juan Mata but we needed to score two more goals in the second half after the visitors grabbed an away goal just before the interval.

However, Chelsea rose to the occasion with Terry heading in a Mata free-kick and Torres firing home the winner in the 71st minute, to send us onward to our second continental title in just under a year.

Our most recent comeback victory in Europe was in the Champions League in 2014 when Paris Saint-Germain were unable to hold on to their lead in the last eight.

Javier Pastore’s stoppage-time effort at the Parc des Princes gave the French side a 3-1 advantage but Chelsea’s never-say-die attitude came to the fore when the teams clashed again at the Bridge.

Andre Schurrle got one back after 32 minutes but the visitors held firm against the blue wave until three minutes from the end when Demba Ba turned the ball home from close range to secure victory on away goals.

Comeback heroics were not required during our successful runs in the Europa League in 2018/19 and Champions League in 2020/21 but hopefully, the memories of our other great recoveries will motivate the Blues to another strong response this week.