Napoli tops Chelsea 3-1

Chelsea fared nearly as badly as Arsenal on its trip to Italy, leaving English clubs in danger of missing the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 1996.

Chelsea's Frank Lampard acknowledges supporters at the end of their Champions League last 16 first leg soccer match against Napoli at the San Paolo stadium in Naples, Feb 21, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Ezequiel Lavezzi scored two goals and Edinson Cavani had one as Napoli rallied from an early deficit for a 3-1 victory Tuesday night in the first leg of the total-goals, second-round series.

"We will analyze strongly what we did wrongly because a couple of things need to get better," Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

Last week, Arsenal lost 4-0 at AC Milan. England's two other teams in Europe's top club competition, Manchester United and Manchester City, were eliminated in the group phase. The last time there were no English clubs in the quarterfinals was 1995-96, when Blackburn was the only representative and finished last in its first-round group.

"It's not an ideal situation but we are still in the Champions League and we will fight to the end," Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech said.

Napoli's Ezequiel Lavezzi (C) celebrates with teammate Edinson Cavani (L) after scoring against Chelsea during their Champions League last 16 first leg soccer match at the San Paolo stadium in Naples, Feb 21, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Chelsea is winless in five straight matches in all competitions (0-2-3), likely to anger owner Roman Abramovich. The Blues' troubles grew worse before the kickoff, when it said captain John Terry will need knee surgery and will be sidelined for up to six weeks.

Villas-Boas gambled by not starting with the experienced trio of Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien.

Only three teams have come back from two goals down in a second leg. "I want to be the fourth," Villas-Boas said. "We're sure we can turn it around at the Bridge."

In the final first-leg games Wednesday, Bayern Munich is at Basel, and Inter Milan is at Marseille.

Napoli's Goran Pandev (L) looks at Chelsea's manager Andre Villas-Boas during their Champions League last 16 first leg soccer match at the San Paolo stadium in Naples, Feb 21, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]