The pressure at its highest, Jose Mourinho and Chelsea will know only a win will take that grim reaper hovering around them away for a while when they play Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Mourinho and that scowl of his only increased when Liverpool outplayed Chelsea over the 90 minutes to pick up a deserved 3-1 victory in the English Premier League on Saturday.
While the manager continues to complain and moan about the perceived bias of referees against Chelsea, what is obvious for everyone watching the Premier League champions at the moment is that they are nowhere near good enough to be winning games consistently.
And if Mourinho puts that right, the decisions and luck will naturally turn in his favour.
Chelsea are currently third in Group G, with a 0-0 draw against Dynamo Kyiv a couple of weeks ago only giving them their fourth point of the campaign. While Maccabi Tel Aviv are to pick up a single point in the Champions League this season, Porto are looking good with seven, while Dynamo Kyiv have five.
A loss to the Ukrainian side on Wednesday would spell disaster. "I think Chelsea will finish first in this group," Mourinho said. "If we don't finish first we'll finish second. I am completely convinced we are going to qualify and I think in first.
"The game [against Kyiv] is not even a game we have to win. We would qualify with a draw and two victories in the last two matches because Dynamo have to play against Porto and both cannot win the same game.
"The match is not a must-win, it's a must not lose. Our situation in the Champions League is not phenomenal but it's an absolutely normal situation. We have an important game, but I repeat it's not a game we have to win, like a knockout match. I am convinced we can finish first, and if not first, second."
While Dynamo Kyiv, even with Chelsea's poor form, will go into this match as the second favourites, they will also fancy themselves against a team seriously short of confidence at the moment.
Even when they took the lead against Liverpool, Chelsea never looked capable of holding on, or indeed moving ahead and finishing their opponents off, something Dynamo Kyiv manager Serhiy Rebrov would have taken note of.
"We really shouldn't be thinking about what's happening with Chelsea, because what is happening to them happens to everyone at some point," Rebrov was quoted as saying by UEFA's official website. "I'm sure their coach is very qualified to deal with the situation and he will find a way out.
"We need to think about our game and not focus on whether they are a wounded animal or not. We didn't think about that in Kyiv and we won't think about it here."
Where to Watch Live
Chelsea vs Dynamo Kyiv is scheduled for an 8.45 pm local time (1.15 am IST, 7.45 pm GMT, 3.45 pm ET) start. Live coverage of the UEFA Champions League match in India will be on Ten Sports, while the action can be watched via live streaming online on Ten Sports Live.
Viewers in the UK can watch the game live on BT Sport, while all the Champions League action can also be live streamed on Watch BT Sport or by downloading the BT Sport App.
The UCL game will be shown live in the Middle East, Australia, Spain, France and Canada on Bein Sports, while the online live streaming option is on Bein Sports Connect.
Watch Chelsea vs Dynamo Kyiv live on ESPN3 in the US, while the live stream option is on FoxSoccer2Go.
