Rafael Benitez on stand-by to take over at Chelsea

Owner Roman Abramovich is considering whether to end the 34-year-old's disastrous eight-month reign.

Chelsea need a 2-0 victory in the ­second leg in three weeks' time to progress to the last eight but Villas-Boas may be out of a job by then.

They have won just four of their last 14 games and are in serious danger of not playing in the Champions League next season for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign.

Abramovich was already believed to be running out of patience prior to last night's poor display and Standard Sport revealed last week that senior players wanted former boss Guus Hiddink to replace Villas-Boas, only for the Dutchman to then join Anzhi Makhachkala.

However, the unrest among the squad is still strong after Villas-Boas dropped experienced duo Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole to the bench last night, even though captain John Terry was already absent with a knee injury.

Villas-Boas claimed it was tactical but it is believed to have been a punishment for speaking out against his tactics in a stormy training-ground meeting 10 days ago.

Club insiders revealed that decision, as well as not starting with Michael Essien, left many people at the club in shock and Lampard and Cole, who refused to speak after the match, were said to be furious at the snub.

Former Liverpool boss Benitez, who has been out of work since he was fired by Inter Milan 14 months ago, is being considered to take over as a caretaker for the rest of the season even though he will not be a popular choice among the fans.

Chelsea have few other options to turn too, which is one of the reasons why Abramovich was keen to give Villas-Boas as much time as possible to turn things around.

However, there are genuine fears among a growing number of people at the club that the season is heading for a terminal decline unless a change is made sooner rather than later.

Villas-Boas insisted before the game he still has the backing of Abramovich and remained defiant after his team lost again.

He said: "Speculation will continue as the results don't happen. But it's not a distraction, for sure. I have full confidence from the owner. Manager for the second leg? Yes, for sure."

However, defender Branislav Ivanovic revealed today the same message has not been directly passed on by anyone at Stamford Bridge to the players.

When asked if he has been told by the club that Villas-Boas is safe no matter what happens for the rest of the season, he said: "I can't say who will stay but all these things are interesting for you. For us players we have to be more focused on our jobs. We don't have to care about these things [speculation over the manager]. I think it's a hard position, very difficult.

"Our squad are not doing what is expected of us. For me, this is the hardest moment of my four years here. We must do all we can to do well, we must keep going and be positive. This is the way to pass this critical period. If everybody works right, I think we can get a reward for our hard work."