Jose Mourinho never ceases to astound.
Chelsea’s chances had been written off ahead of the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final after returning from France 3-1 in arrears against the might of Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain.
But, as always, the Portuguese coach had an ace up his sleeve when facing awkward situations. He spends a lot of time thinking before finalising his selection and uses the substitutes available to perfection.
Last week, Mourinho ran down the Stamford Bridge touchline in ecstasy, recreating the Old Trafford moment of a decade ago as Chelsea scored late to seal a 2-0 win over PSG and qualification to the last four of the competition.
This was Mourinho’s eighth quarter-final appearance in the Champions League following spells with Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid.
Victory over PSG was special as it was only the third time that a team had come back from a 3-1 deficit in the competition.
It will be Mourinho’s third Champions League semi-final in charge at Chelsea – and he will be hoping it proves third time lucky after losing his previous two to Liverpool.
This is also the second time Chelsea have cancelled a two-goal deficit to make further progress in the Champions League.
The other occasion was two seasons ago under the management of Roberto Di Matteo.
Against Napoli, the Blues lost 1-3 in the second round, first leg, in Italy. Yet, the Londoners staged a great comeback to crush Napoli 4-0 at home.
The last time Chelsea reached the semi-finals of the Champions League was against Barcelona in 2011-12. That season, Chelsea went on to win the competition for the first time in their history, beating Bayern Munich in the final.
At Stamford Bridge, the Blues won 1-0 before drawing 2-2 in the return leg at the Nou Camp. Chelsea went on to win the tournament.
In 2008-09, the Londoners bowed out on the away-goals rule against Barcelona. After the 0-0 draw at Nou Camp the Blues drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
In 2007-08, Chelsea met Liverpool for the third time at the last four stage of the Champions League competition.
After a 1-1 draw at Anfield, they won the return at Stamford Bridge 3-2 for a 4-3 aggregate win. The final in Moscow was an all-English affair with Chelsea losing to Manchester United 5-6 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw.
The Blues had suffered another penalty shout-out loss in the 2006-07 semi-final against Liverpool, going down 1-4. Chelsea had won the home leg 1-0 but lost at Anfield by the same scoreline.
The first meeting between the two English clubs came in 2004-05. The Blues were held to a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, losing the return 0-1 in Liverpool.
The previous season, 2003-04, Chelsea were shocked by French club Monaco.
Many tipped Chelsea to reach the final but in the last four they lost 1-3 in Monaco. In the second leg Chelsea, then under the guidance of Italian Claudio Ranieri, shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Last week, Chelsea were drawn against surprise Champions League package Atletico Madrid, away in the first leg, at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.
Mourinho fancied a semi-final clash with Atletico.
He has never lost a league match against them while manager of Real Madrid. In his three years at the Bernabeu, Mourinho enjoyed six successive La Liga victories over Real’s city rivals.