Amid the emotion of an historic evening which saw Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League semi-final at the home of their bitter rivals, Claudio Ranieri's message was clear: Chelsea had destroyed Arsenal's European ambitions; now they could take aim at the league.
Having recovered from the "30 seconds of delirium" with which he reacted to the winning goal, Ranieri recalibrated his season's sights. "We can win the Champions League now, why not? Everything is possible, "he said. "I think this can transform the season and we want to catch Arsenal in the league."
As for whether this success makes his position any more secure, Ranieri would not be drawn other than to say he remains focused on the remainder of a season which now includes a semi- final against Monaco, who eliminated Real Madrid last night.
"It is not good news that Real Madrid are out because I know Real very well," he said. "If Monaco won, it is because they are a very good team with good players and a good coach."
Many Chelsea players feel they have a good coach of their own and Wayne Bridge followed his 87th-minute winner by calling for Ranieri to enjoy a prolonged spell as the manager at Stamford Bridge.
"If it is possible, let Claudio stay," said Bridge. "He's been great for me, he brought me to the club and keeps playing me. He seems to believe in me. All the lads get on well with him and, if it's possible, let him stay.
"We enjoy training and he seems to enjoy every day. I feel sorry for him in a way. I think most people do. You just have to wait and see what happens."
Ranieri 's defeated counterpart Arsène Wenger, who as manager led Monaco to the 1994 European Cup semi-final, rates Chelsea 's chances of further progress as "80-20 ".
Wenger admitted that Arsenal's latest quarter-final failure, their third in a club history that has never seen them make the last four, raised fears they might never succeed in the competition.
"We knew the second goal would kill us, so when they scored, they looked more likely to score again than we did," he said. "There is always a question mark as long as you don't do it."
