25/02/2004  Stuttgart 0 Chelsea 1
 
Claudio Ranieri kept the vultures hovering for a little longer as his Chelsea battlers claimed a vital victory to keep their Champions League dream burning bright.

It may have come courtesy of a huge slice of luck, with the second round first leg match in the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadion being settled in the 12th minute by Fernando Meira's bizarre own goal.

But at this moment in time the beleaguered Blues boss will take anything going as he bids to cling on to his job.

Two defeats in the space of six days before this tie at the hands of Arsenal effectively ended Chelsea's domestic season as Ranieri's men were first knocked out of the FA Cup and then left trailing The Gunners by nine points in the Barclaycard Premiership.

Those defeats left the Champions League as the one realistic trophy up for grabs which would surely save Ranieri from the sack.

The critics are queuing up to pile the pressure on Ranieri as they believe billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich will replace him in the summer.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon added to that pressure when he said the least that could be expected was a trophy after spending £121million on rebuilding the squad.

However, Europe again proved the perfect tonic for The Blues and this result leaves Ranieri's men favourites to progress into the quarter-finals when the second leg takes place at Stamford Bridge in just under a fortnight.

Ranieri was able to recall Carlo Cudicini following a groin injury and if there was any doubt over the Italian goalkeeper's fitness it was dispelled in the seventh minute when he made a brilliant save to deny Silvio Meissner.

Stuttgart were camped inside the Chelsea half and when Kevin Kuranyi and Andreas Hinkel combined down the flanks to set up unmarked Meissner on the penalty spot it looked ominous for the visitors.

However, when the low the shot came through a crowd of players Cudicini reacted superbly by diving to his left to keep the ball out.

Meissner had earlier scooped a shot over the crossbar, so it was totally against the run of play when Chelsea took the lead in the 12th minute, much to the delight of their travelling fans.

Glen Johnson carried the ball down the right flank and sent in a waist-high cross aiming for Hernan Crespo - making only his second start of the year - in the penalty area.

It looked a straightforward enough task for Meira to cut out the cross, but he stunned his goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand and everyone in the 50,000 crowd by thumping the ball inside the near post for a bizarre own goal.

Next it was the turn of Wayne Bridge to come to Chelsea's rescue with a vital goalline clearance after 19 minutes.

Horst Heldt swung in a corner from the left and Kuranyi met it with a good downward header which Bridge blocked at the near post.

Eidur Gudjohnsen should have increased Chelsea's lead after 31 minutes following a rare break. Geremi fed Crespo and he played a superb pass into the Icelandic striker's path just inside the box, but he rushed it and blazed the ball over the bar.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first and the one real scare for Chelsea came after 67 minutes as Philipp Laham went past Johnson and William Gallas with ease on the left edge of the area, but when he pulled the ball back it was hooked clear by Claude Makelele.

Cudicini also tipped over a long-range effort from Kuranyi after 81 minutes and dealt with everything thrown at him as the disappointing Germans squandered all their opportunities - leaving Chelsea to enjoy their celebrations at the final whistle.