Porto Uncovered combines interviews with many of the key figures involved in the Blues lifting the Champions League trophy, for only the second time in our history, with behind-the-scenes footage from throughout the knockout stages and final itself, to tell the story of last season’s victory like never before.

The first of the two episodes begins at the start of 2021, when Chelsea were looking a long way from kings of Europe. We had topped our Champions League group but a difficult December had left us well down the Premier League table and facing a struggle just to qualify for the following campaign’s Champions League, let alone win it.

Antonio Rudiger has never been afraid to tell it like it is, and when he is asked in the documentary whether he could have seen us winning the competition back in January, his blunt ‘no’ in response tells you a lot.

When asked to explain, the defender continues: ‘If you see where we had been at the time, we had been ninth or 10th in the league and things were not going that well. I am very honest, so no.’

He wasn’t the only one to feel that way either, as his fellow German international Kai Havertz, scorer of the decisive goal on that magical night in Porto which seemed so impossible mere months earlier, echoes his words.

‘To be honest, of course not,’ adds Havertz when the same question is put to him. ‘I think our goal at that time was not to win the Champions League, our goal was to qualify for the next year into the Champions League.’

However, things changed very quickly at Chelsea in the weeks and months that followed that testing start to 2021. As Blues legend Petr Cech, now the club’s performance and technical advisor, puts it: ‘Sometimes you need one little spark, and suddenly things reverse.’

Of course, that spark arrived in the form of new head coach Thomas Tuchel, in time for our last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid, and the instant impact he had in turning our fortunes around.

In the Porto Uncovered documentary, Tuchel himself opens up about the task he was greeted with when he joined Chelsea, the way the team developed and grew stronger over the course of the campaign and how he set about taking his squad from mid-table in the Premier League to champions of Europe in just a few months.

The first episode of Porto Uncovered will be available on the official Chelsea website and The 5th Stand app from Tuesday. Using exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes content, it brings you the real story of our 2021 Champions League triumph, told through the eyes of the players, staff and supporters who were at the heart of that famous victory.

Episode One follows our gruelling route to the final and the challenges we overcame to reach Porto. Episode Two, which will be available from Thursday, picks up the tale at the Estadio do Dragao by looking at the preparations for the final, the match itself and the incredible celebrations on the pitch, in the dressing room and in the stands.