Antonio Conte believes he pulled off a miracle to rival Leicester City’s when he won the title with Chelsea.
The Italian mounted a passionate defence of last season’s achievement ahead of today’s pivotal clash.
Defeat at Stamford Bridge and the Blues can almost certainly kiss goodbye to any hopes of successfully defending their crown.
Conte paid tribute to compatriot Claudio Ranieri, who guided the Foxes to the greatest triumph in their history when the 5,000-1 shots wrote a football fairytale.
But he claimed that for different reasons his success should be viewed the same.
Conte said: “To win when usually you are used to fighting relegation is a miracle, a big miracle.
“Claudio did a fantastic job, an incredible achievement.
“Is it a good time or a surprise when you are Chelsea, who are used to winning the league.
“If this is a surprise it means you are doing a miracle.
“So, I think last season was a miracle for us. The season before we finished 10th, so for me it was – we won the league and reached the FA Cup final with 13 players.”
The 3-0 Champions League defeat by Roma in midweek was a sobering wake-up call.
And Conte has told Roman Abramovich he deserves time and the owner’s patience to get the Chelsea show back on the road.
The former Juventus boss said: “If I remember correctly, the media were the first to say Chelsea would be worse last season – I remember your headlines.
“It’s not simple to repeat the title win. In the last four or five years we have lost a lot of important players – Didier Drogba, Petr Cech, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, John Obi Mikel, Ashley Cole.
“We must be realistic now and understand that we are building, creating a base.”