Chelsea 4 Bayern Munich 2
A diet of trouble is nourishing Chelsea's season so perhaps they will not be broken by the penalty that Michael Ballack converted in stoppage-time after a foul on him by Ricardo Carvalho. They had, after all, recovered when Bayern Munich levelled at 1-1 to go on and build a 4-1 lead.
Frank Lampard had scored twice before, in the 81st minute, Chelsea notched the goal that may yet be precious.
Bayern could not cope with Joe Cole's corner and although Eidur Gudjohnsen was unable to convert, Didier Drogba rammed home the loose ball.
Jose Mourinho might have howled over the touchline ban that persuaded him to avoid the Stamford Bridge arena completely, but he may not have been the most significant absentee.
For once the Chelsea manager had been upstaged. There were moments in the first half when Roy Makaay's withdrawal from the match seemed like a more critical factor.
Despite the Premiership leaders' early and fortunate breakthrough, Bayern were not cowed. They were sure enough of themselves in midfield to drive confidently towards the penalty area, but prior to the interval Bayern looked repeatedly disappointed not to see Makaay waiting for them there.
The Dutchman had realised yesterday that a thigh injury had not healed sufficiently for him to take part. He will have wondered, in particular, just what he might have done had he been lurking in the goalmouth when Glen Johnson, after 29 minutes, let Owen Hargreaves's tame cross bounce away from him as he attempted to control it on his chest.
Instead it was Ze Roberto rather than Makaay who was doing the lurking and his poor shot ran harmlessly wide.
There had been ample warning that no spectacle to compare with the 4-2 win over Barcelona in the previous round was to be expected here.
It is almost a matter of pride for both teams, in normal circumstances, to be pragmatic.
At half-time Chelsea were entirely at peace with the feeling that they held the lead without showing much smoothness of passing.
The goal had its origins in the strenuous efforts of Drogba that stopped Robert Kovac from completing a clearing header adequately in the fourth minute.
Damien Duff immediately laid the ball to the right, where Cole hit a firm shot that would not have confounded Oliver Kahn had it not been for the deflection off Lucio that left the goalkeeper stranded.
The instructions left by Mourinho were marked by caution. Just as they had in the win at Southampton last Saturday, Chelsea put Gudjohnsen in a quartet of attacking midfielders, with Claude Makelele covering behind them. There was no romance to the scheme but neither was there complete security.
It is open to debate whether tiredness or, perhaps, injuries to Wayne Bridge and more recently Paulo Ferreira are taking their toll but Chelsea had only kept a clean sheet in one of their previous seven matches.
There was an edginess about them, particularly on two occasions before the interval when fouls were conceded on the edge of the area but neither Hargreaves nor Ze Roberto could make the free-kicks count.
Chelsea could not be complacent about such alarms and as the second half began they did, fleetingly, impose themselves.
Drogba played the ball in and Gudjohnsen set up Duff, but the Dubliner's finish was partially blocked by Kahn and then cleared.
The visitors' advances continued and William Gallas brought down the substitute Sebastian Schweinsteiger after 52 minutes. The free-kick struck the defensive wall but Ze Roberto then drilled a shot that Petr Cech pushed away at full stretch. Schweinsteiger himself burst onto the loose ball to finish confidently.
If it was any consolation to a peeved crowd, circumstances had been created to give this match a slight resemblance to the enthralling struggle with Barcelona.
Chelsea, once again, had to throw themselves into the search for goals. Drogba had been an intimidating adversary all night for Bayern and he climbed to knock down a long ball from Johnson. Lampard's left-footed contact sent home a low shot at the near post.
Ten minutes later, Bayern did little more than hack possession away from Duff and when Makelele chipped it back in Lampard, played onside by Bixente Lizarazu, controlled with his chest and defeated Kahn with another left-footed finish.
His aim was true and when Drogba hit a fourth from close range nine minutes from full-time Chelsea looked then to have found the route to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
CHELSEA: Cech, Johnson (Huth 65), Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Gallas, Cole (Tiago 82), Lampard, Makelele, Duff, Gudjohnsen, Drogba (Forssell 89). Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Smertin, Geremi, Nuno Morais. Booked: Drogba, Ricardo Carvalho, Gallas, Makelele. Goals: Lucio 5 og, Lampard 59, 70, Drogba 81.
BAYERN MUNICH: Kahn, Sagnol, Lucio, Kovac, Lizarazu, Salihamidzic (Schweinsteiger 45), Frings, Ballack, Hargreaves, Ze Roberto (Scholl 73), Guerrero. Subs Not Used: Rensing, Hashemian, Jeremies, Linke, Deisler. Booked: Frings. Goals: Schweinsteiger 53, Ballack 90 pen.
Referee: R Temmink (Holland).