Barcelona, with the brilliant Lionel Messi, put in a performance that suggested that they are once more the team to beat as they thrashed Stuttgart 4-0 at home after a less than convincing first leg. There was nearly a shock in Bordeaux, too, as Olympiacos briefly threatened an unlikely upset.

In England, though, the focus is still on Chelsea's demise. Having made the final two years ago and having come within minutes of doing so last year, the early exit to Jose Mourinho's Inter came as something of a shock.

The Daily Mail reports that Roman Abramovich 'turned on his players after the Champions League defeat to Inter Milan, asking them if they are at Chelsea only to pocket his cash'. Jason Burt in the Daily Telegraph, though, feels the owner should be pumping more of his money into the club.

His home in Lowndes Square is to be gutted inside, behind its stucco-fronted façade. The billionaire has assiduously acquired properties around it and, when they are all knocked into one, it will be some residence. So much for his home improvements. Now it's the assiduous acquisition of players for his other lavish London project – Chelsea Football Club – that should occupy him.

The Champions League exit will have hurt Abramovich even more not just because Jose Mourinho had won but because his Inter team included Lucio, who Chelsea had tried and failed to buy six years ago, Samuel Eto'o, who they had similarly tried to recruit, Maicon, who they turned their noses up at, and Wesley Sneijder, who as recently as last summer was not deemed good enough for Chelsea.

This summer, with the threat of a transfer ban having been lifted, will be the big test for Abramovich, indicating what he's willing to invest.

Having constantly chopped and changed managers in the belief that they were the root of the problem and he wasn't getting value for money after spending more than £600 million on the club, it could be time for a root-and-branch reform of the playing staff although, according to sources, that's still not his overriding belief.

He has considered taking this course before. As recently as last summer, in fact, when Carlo Ancelotti was promised the funds to make changes and encouraged to try to bring in some of his own recruits before accepting that the small pond of top-class talent targeted by Chelsea has some over-priced fish in it.

Ancelotti was let down. Luiz Felipe Scolari will know how he feels. The Brazilian failed at Chelsea after a bright start and, rightly or wrongly, ascribed much of this to the club's inability to sign Robinho.

Scolari had identified a lack of youth and pace as a problem and Ancelotti, during his negotiations last year, was promised the money to recruit players he wanted. There was talk of Kaka and, more realistically, Andrea Pirlo who, it was decided, was too old, while negotiations took place with representatives of Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor.

A concerted effort was made to sign Franck Ribery and tentative approaches were made to acquire Sergio Aguero, a player eventually deemed too expensive.

Apart from Daniel Sturridge and Ross Turnbull only Yuri Zhirkov arrived. The fee was said to be around £17 million but that was, as one Abramovich associate called it, a "Russian deal" which means that CSKA Moscow may have received more or far less than was quoted for the undisclosed transfer. It was less than £10 million.

It's evident that Chelsea need to make changes. There is a sense at the club that if they don't, then they will become another AC Milan. They may have the Rossoneri's former coach, but do they want a similarly ageing squad? Surely not.

In the Independent, meanwhile, Glenn Moore dissects Mourinho's special plan to knock Chelsea out of the competition.

Although he paid lip-service to sharing the glory with his players, Jose Mourinho could not resist ensuring that everyone knew who was the architect of Internazionale's victory at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. The players were praised for following the plan, the plan drawn up by... Mourinho. So what was it?

A four-part plan, apparently, from studying the video of the first match seven or eight times to suffocating the full backs. It's a piece best read in its entirety, so click through above for the full article.