Chelsea suffered on a painful night in the Italian capital, crushed 3-0 by a rampant Roma, but there were two bright sparks.
One was Atletico Madrid failing to beat minnows Qarabag at home, meaning if Chelsea do the job in Azerbaijan against the same opponents they will qualify for the next round.
The other was Eden Hazard’s display.
The Belgian has been known, in the past, to hide when the team is struggling, but he was Chelsea’s best player by a distance at the Stadio Olimpico.
Hazard tested Allison three times in the first half, forcing the goalkeeper into smart saves to keep Chelsea at bay.
While the hosts had more of the ball, with Hazard breaking forward on the left the Blues were impressive on the counter.
The winger was head and shoulders above his team-mates, with six successful dribbles out of six, while the team struggled to support him.
A turning point in the game was a foul on Hazard outside the area. It wasn’t given, but perhaps more importantly, Florenzi’s stamp on the back of the Belgian’s ankle disrupted his performance.
Fortunately he wasn’t forced off, although it ultimately did Chelsea little good as they were weaker still in the second period.
Hazard tried to probe, but Roma, triumphant, were playing with great relish before their delighted supporters and gave him increasingly little space to work in.
It was Hazard’s goal against Bournemouth which gave Chelsea a vital win last Saturday and in Rome he proved he is the team’s best player again.
Chelsea face Manchester United on Sunday in a Premier League clash which will be key in determining if they can defend their title or not and if they are to win, few would bet against Hazard making the vital intervention.
When the club struggled under Jose Mourinho in his third season, Hazard was invisible.
It is a good sign that now they are suffering again, Hazard is keeping his head above the parapet and firing back.