As Chelsea limbered up for their Champions League last 16 clash with FC Copenhagen, under fire coach Carlo Ancelotti remained defiant that he would not walk out on the club.
Ancelotti’s tenure at the Stamford Bridge is at its most fragile point following the weekend FA Cup defeat to Everton, with a host of pre-emptive newspaper reports suggesting the Italian is ready to call time on his stay in west London.
But during the official Champions League press gathering, Ancelotti chose the moment to reaffirm his commitment to the cause, “I am not here to consider my own position. I just have to work and try my best. The pressure is football – you have to be able to manage at moments like this."
When pressed upon whether he was about to walk, Ancelotti replied with a frank - albeit predictable - “no”.
Whether Ancelotti will quit or not may have little or no bearing on whether he is still Chelsea’s manager come next season, but if he does have any genuine ambitions of remaining in the post, then success in Europe will go someway to repairing the damage of an awful second season.
In reality this competition represents the ailing champions only chance of silverware and reclaiming respectability after their fall from grace. Privately - if never publicly - Roman Abramovich has earmarked the Champions League as his priority and specifically summoned Ancelotti to the club due in large to his exploits with Milan.
Last year Ancelotti was comprehensively outsmarted by a certain Jose Mourinho as the Blues registered their equal worst finish in the competition in eight attempts.
The failure was eradicated by a domestic double, but many will recollect that Ancelotti was once again found tactically wanting when it mattered - much as he has done for the past few months.
Prying eyes will be keen to see how the Italian shuffles his pack following another three games without a win, and 300 minutes of football with just a solitary strike for their troubles.
Fernando Torres returns to the squad after being cup-tied against Everton, but the Spaniards return almost adds to Ancelotti’s problems rather than solves them.
The brief dalliance with the ill-fated diamond appears again to have been consigned to the bin as the Blues continue to labour by with some ill-fitting variation of a 4-3-3.
Indeed it is Nicolas Anelka who is Chelsea’s man on the continent with five goals to his name already. How Ancelotti arranges his attacking options will have a strong bearing on their performance in Denmark, and for the remainder of the campaign.
On paper, a trip to the Danish capital represented the best outcome for Chelsea but given their current confidence crisis it also could perversely become the worst.
The unfancied Danes qualified impressively from Group D also containing Barcelona, Rubin Kazan and Panathinaikos. Their Parken stadium was somewhat of a fortress during the groups with Barca held and the other two well beaten.
Due to the winter break in the Danish SuperLiga, Stale Solbakken’s side have played only a handful of friendlies since defeating Panathinaikos 3-1 in early December.
Last season this fixture would have been tantamount to a bye for the Blues but with no tangible signs of form or finesse returning, the city of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales could easily become a nightmare.
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