Claudio Ranieri could consider himself unlucky to have been sacked by Chelsea back in 2004 as the London club started to spend its newfound wealth, but as he prepares for his triumphant return as table-topping Leicester manager, we look at five key games for the Italian during his time at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea: FA Cup final, May 4, 2002
Gambling on a half-fit Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, deprived of John Terry from the start by illness and lumbered with the Millennium Stadium's "unlucky" North dressing room, Ranieri's first and last cup final as Chelsea manager never looked likely to end well.
Arsene Wenger's superb Arsenal side made sure that it didn't, punctuating a dramatic second half with spectacular goals from Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg. Victory propelled the Gunners to a famous Double, while defeat bolstered the "nice guys don't finish first" narrative that would undermine Ranieri in his later years at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool: Premier League, May 11, 2003
The prize for victory was a seat at the Champions League table. The cost of defeat, according to whispers around Stamford Bridge, might have been bankruptcy. Ranieri had guided cash-strapped Chelsea to a de facto playoff for Europe's elite club competition in which a draw would suffice, but his players attacked with a determination that suggested they knew the stakes were higher.
Headers from Sami Hyypia and Marcel Desailly cancelled each other out before Jesper Gronkjaer cut in on his left foot and curled a shot beyond Jerzy Dudek. Gianfranco Zola bade farewell to Stamford Bridge by embarrassing Jamie Carragher during a virtuoso cameo and Chelsea were in the Champions League playoff.
Less than a month later Roman Abramovich arrived at Stamford Bridge -- something he may well not have done if the lure of the UCL had not been there -- and the age of Chelsea the superclub could begin.
Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal: Premier League, February 21, 2004
Abramovich's spending elevated Chelsea to the status of Premier League title contenders within a single summer and Arsenal visited Stamford Bridge in February knowing that defeat would close the gap at the top of the table to a single point.
Chelsea were ahead inside 29 seconds when Geremi picked the pocket of Patrick Vieira and crossed for Eidur Gudjohnsen, but the Arsenal captain redeemed himself with his first goal of the season and Edu capitalised on an error from backup goalkeeper Neil Sullivan to poke home the winner.
Gudjohnsen was sent off on the hour, taking Chelsea's Premier League title hopes with him. Wenger's greatest Arsenal side marched on, seven points clear, to a second triumph in three years -- and Invincibility.
Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: Champions League quarterfinal second leg, April 6, 2004
A 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge a fortnight earlier had put Ranieri's men on the back foot heading to Highbury, where they were faced with a team on the brink of domestic history and opponents they had not beaten in 17 matches in all competitions.
The hoodoo looked set to continue when Jose Antonio Reyes put Arsenal in front on the stroke of half-time but Chelsea rallied after the break. Frank Lampard levelled before Wayne Bridge initiated a slick one-two with Gudjohnsen and slammed a low shot past Jens Lehmann.
"It was the most extraordinary moment, the most electric thirty seconds of my entire life in football," Ranieri wrote of the winning goal in his memoir. Chelsea were into the Champions League semifinals for the first time, and as the newly-installed tournament favourites.
Monaco 3-1 Chelsea: Champions League semifinal first leg, April 20, 2004
Just two weeks separated Ranieri's greatest night as Chelsea manager and his worst. Hernan Crespo cancelled out Dado Prso with a vital away goal in a tense first half at Stade Louis II and the visitors looked in command when Claude Makelele's gamesmanship got Andreas Zikos sent off in the 52nd minute.
Instead Ranieri imploded, unbalancing his team by replacing Gronkjaer with Juan Sebastian Veron, Mario Melchiot with Hasselbaink and Scott Parker with Robert Huth. Monaco seized on the chaos, Fernando Morientes and Shabani Nonda scoring to give them a buffer they would not relinquish in London.
Ranieri apologised to his squad and Abramovich invited players and staff onto his luxury yacht to raise spirits, but the manager's fate was sealed. Porto coach Jose Mourinho won the chance to succeed Ranieri by outclassing Monaco on his way to success in the Champions League final.