The Blues overturned a two-goal deficit from the first leg against Napoli with a thrilling 4-1 victory to ensure England’s representation in the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid made a similarly strong statment that provided further proof their feebleness in the Champions League appears to be a thing of the past under Jose Mourinho.
After failing to reach the quarter-finals for six successive seasons before Mourinho’s arrival, the nine-time champions advanced for the second year in a row by sweeping aside CSKA Moscow.
Madrid responded to a 1-1 draw in Russia by winning the second leg 4-1, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice, taking his tally to 42 goals this season.
“Without doing anything otherworldly we dominated, played in their half with a lot of maturity and the only uneasy moment came with the reaction of the crowd when they scored to make it 3-1,” said Mourinho, whose side reached the semi-finals last year.
Mourinho’s former side Chelsea will be joining Madrid in Friday’s draw.
Chelsea trailed 3-1 from the first leg in Italy, a result that contributed to Andre Villas-Boas being fired, but their revival continued under interim coach Roberto Di Matteo with a third straight win.
Frank Lampard’s 75th-minute penalty kick sent the game into extra time and Branislav Ivanovic clinched the 5-4 aggregate win.
In what has been a dismal season for the Premier League in Europe’s elite club competition, the goal helped ensure England avoided being without a team in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1996.
In the draw there will be teams from seven countries, with defending champion Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Marseille, Benfica and Cypriot newcomer APOEL also through.
There was no surprise at Santiago Bernabeu stadium after Gonzalo Higuain found the net for Spanish leader Madrid after 26 minutes from Kaka’s through ball.
Ronaldo’s long-range shot was then fumbled into the net by goalkeeper Sergei Chepchugov in the 55th minute.
Real’s Karim Benzema got one back in the 70th, but the hosts found the back of the net twice more.
“The most important thing isn’t always to score but to play as a team and to be a collective,” Mourinho said.
Mourinho’s former club, Chelsea, has spent the last week and a half regrouping since Villas-Boas was sacked.
But the London team’s season appears to be back on track, even if it is only fifth in the Premier League.
“The lads put in a great display. Really solid, really resilient, with the firepower going forward,” captain John Terry said.
“We proved we’re a team tonight. That desire, that togetherness. We showed what Chelsea are made of tonight.”
Napoli’s sizeable first-leg lead was wiped out by the 48th minute. Fresh from scoring his 100th Premier League goal at the weekend, Didier Drogba headed home from Ramires’ cross in the 29th minute.
Terry then nodded the ball into the net from Frank Lampard’s corner at the start of the second half.
And after Ivanovic’s header hit the raised hand of Andrea Dossena, Lampard levelled the tie before Ivanovic’s decisive goal in stoppage time.
“It was important we showed a desire and spirit to keep ourselves in the competition,” Lampard said. “It’s been a difficult season, but a performance like that tonight can change things for us so it’s important we go on from here.”
