Carlo Ancelotti last night urged his Chelsea side to put on a show to take Europe’s breath away tonight as he urged the Blues: “Show you have what it takes to win the Champions League.”

Ancelotti, twice a winner of the competition with AC Milan, expects his side to seal top spot in Group D and the advantage of playing the second leg of their last 16 tie at home despite saving Ashley Cole, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba for Sunday’s clash with Arsenal.

And with skipper John Terry insisting Chelsea have rediscovered the sense of “dominance“ they showed during the first two years of the Jose Mourinho reign, the Italian has demanded a display to send out a message to all their Champions League rivals.

Ancelotti said: “We may have qualified already but we want to play well and we want to win.

“We need to finish top of the group but more important is that we put on the pitch our personality and courage.

“If you want to win the Champions League, you have to have that personality and courage and that is what I want to see.

“It is very difficult to show it away from home in a stadium like the Dragao, against a strong team. That is why it will tell me a lot about the squad I have.”

Ancelotti will recall Ricardo Carvalho and Deco against their former side, with Michael Ballack returning after a knee problem and Russian Yuri Zhirkov deputising for Ashley Cole at left-back.

Essien’s knee and Drogba’s bruised ribs will keep them out of the starting side, while Frank Lampard was left behind in London as he continues his recovery from the thigh tear sustained on England duty.

The Italian has imposed a rotation policy which, unlike in the past, has found favour with his players.

Skipper John Terry, who will lead the Blues for the 300th time - overtaking Dennis Wise and behind only Ron Harris in the all-time list - insisted that Ancelotti’s attention to detail would ensure the Blues do not blow up as they did at this stage last season under the doomed reign of Luis Felipe Scolari.

Terry said: “We are getting close to being dominant again.

“We have had a very good start but we are not getting carried away - after all we all remember we started well last year and then threw it away over the Christmas period.

“But the manager has seen a squad with a hunger to win and to play and even last weekend, when we had three or four players who were injured and some people expected us to slip up, we didn’t and won well.

“That is what the manager and everyone at the club wants to see.  “As a group of players we want to keep everyone fit and this is where the manager is very clever.

“He gives us Sundays off after matches and two day recoveries with no training sessions.

“It means that we are going into the games now a lot sharper and fitter than we were last year while the manager is also making sure everybody is involved, bringing fresh legs in giving others a rest.

“With so many games that is very important and it’s paying off for us.”  Terry admitted his milestone achievement would mean more if he could lead the Blues back to their place at the summit of the domestic game, and also finally fill the one glaring omission in his club cv.

He added: “For me it’s great to do that but I want to continue as captain for a long time.

“I’ve been at the club under many managers who have given me the captaincy and I’m very proud of that. I want to stay fit and continue to lead captain Chelsea and win trophies. That is the most important thing of all.”

While Terry is part of the fabric of the club - Ancelotti hailed his “technical quality and the great professionalism he shows“ - one of the youngsters hoping to be part if the future could get another chance to shine with French winger Gael Kakuta likely to be on the bench.

“The club has been aiming for another player to come through the ranks and I was probably the last one to do it,” said Terry.

“Gael is a great young talent, really exciting and to see him come on last weekend and do so well is really encouraging.

“It’s a lot harder to come through now because you can buy players now rather than bring them through. But they need to believe and kick on and not settle for being a reserve and if you make it can prove to be the time of your life.”