The pressure on Andres Villas-Boas increased as Chelsea slid from first to third in Champions League Group E after a 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday.
Starting the game two points clear, the Blues looked set to seal qualification for the knockout stages when Didier Drogba shrugged off a pair of defenders to give his side a 49th minute lead.
But the Germans stormed back with substitute Eren Derdiyok heading home a Sidney Sam cross to equalise in the 73rd minute and Manuel Friedrich also heading a dramatic injury-time winner from a corner.
The win sent Leverkusen to the top of the group - and ensured their qualification - while Valenciamoved level on points with Chelsea after crushing Belgian also-rans Genk 7-0 at the Mestalla.
Roberto Soldado was the Valencia star as he blasted a first-half hat-trick after Brazilian Jonas had given them a 10th-minute lead. Second-half goals from Pablo Hernandez, Aritz Aduriz and Tino Costa completed the rout.
However, Villas-Boas knows his side's destiny remains in his own hands as Chelsea prepare to welcome Valencia for their final Group E game.
The drama continued in Group F where Arsenal secured qualification as group winners with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund, while Olympiacos stole a shock 1-0 win over Marseille in France.
Robin van Persie took his tally for the season to 21 with a brilliant second-half double to deny the visitors, for whom Shinji Kagawa's injury-time strike was small consolation on a night that saw them slump to the bottom of the group.
Meanwhile Olympiacos gave themselves hope as Ioannis Fetfatzidis scored the only goal of the game in France. Their win leaves them one point off their second-placed opponents with a home game against the already-qualified Gunners to come.
Reigning champions Barcelona confirmed top spot in Group H with an exciting 3-2 victory over already-qualified AC Milan at the San Siro.
Mark van Bommel's early own goal was cancelled out by Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic before a Lionel Messi penalty put Barca up at the break. Kevin Prince Boateng equalised a second time before Xavi struck a 63rd-minute winner for the visitors.
In the other game in Group H, Viktoria Plzen claimed their first win of the group stages 1-0 overBATE Borisov in Minsk. Marek Bakos netted in the 42nd minute to put the Czech side in pole position to seal a Europa League slot.
APOEL Nicosia made history by becoming the first Cypriot side ever to get past the group stages with their gutsy goalless draw away to Zenit St Petersburg confirming their top-two place.
In a match which was held up due to smoke from flares set off by the home fans, APOEL staged a classic rearguard action to claim a point against a Zenit side unbeaten in their last 12 matches.
Porto's 2-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk lifted them to within a point of the Russians with a winner-takes-all tie in Portugal to come. A second-half opener from Hulk and an own goal from Razvan Rat gave Porto the points.
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