Brussels: Chelsea is set find out whether two consecutive domestic losses are the start of a slump or merely an aberration when it plays at Racing Genk in the Champions League on Tuesday.
A win would put Chelsea back on track and ensure the two Premier League defeats, including Saturday's 5-3 home loss against Arsenal, are not necessarily a fundamental issue for new manager Andre Villas-Boas.
A third straight loss, however, would undermine the team's lead in Group E of the Champions League and could be the start of a crisis at one of Europe's leading clubs.
Backed by a 5-0 home win over Genk on October 19, Villas-Boas refuses to be flustered.
"In the Champions League, the scenario is another one," he said. "We can get in a very good position if we win the game. We have a chance of qualifying if Leverkusen wins."
Chelsea leads the group by one point from Germany's Bayer Leverkusen. Valencia is five points off the pace and Belgian champion Genk has only a single point. Leverkusen travels to Valencia in the other group match.
There are two more group rounds are left after Tuesday's games.
On top of Chelsea's poor results, all eyes will also center on John Terry. The captain faces a Football Association investigation centering on allegations he directed a racial slur at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand during a 1-0 loss last week.
Suddenly facing pressure from all sides, Chelsea will have to prove that two bad weeks in football doesn't make a critical difference and that its defense has only lapsed momentarily. The Londoners were all over Genk of the lowly Belgian league two weeks ago with a spate of early goals, with Fernando Torres leading Chelsea in equalling its biggest ever win in the Champions League.
Conceding five at home against crosstown rival Arsenal last weekend, though, wiped that happy memory off every fan's mind. It left Chelsea third in the Premier League standings but facing a nine-point gap from leader Manchester City.
The swing in fortunes and momentum compared to Genk could hardly be bigger. If Chelsea fell hard against Arsenal, Genk dragged itself out of a crisis against FC Brugge that same Saturday.
Trailing 4-2 with 17 minutes to go, the team scored 3 times for a 5-4 victory which eased the pressure on coach Mario Been after a bad month of October. The reigning champion is still back in sixth place, 10 points behind leader Anderlecht.
Still, it was exactly what the team needed.
"One victory can do more than 1,000 words from a coach," said Been. "Now we have to take up the good things from Saturday against Brugge and avoid the bad things."
Leverkusen won a scrappy game against bottom club Freiburg 1-0 on Friday to rise to a disappointing eighth position in the Bundesliga. The 35-year-old Michael Ballack scored his first Bundesliga goal for more than five years. He broke his nose in the game and a decisison whether he will play in Valencia will only be taken just before the game.
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