Stockholm, 7.45 (BBC 1, Net 2)By Martin Thorpe

When Gianluca Vialli recently passed judgement that tonight's final was Chelsea's most important ever game, a few members of the 1955 Championship-winning side may have been tempted to send the Italian a copy of the club's official history.

And, as the Cup Winners' Cup is being used as a yardstick of greatness, a few of the Chelsea side who lifted that trophy in 1971 might have been tempted to send Vialli some less well-chosen words about his assumption that their accomplishment was worth less than what the current team hope to achieve today.

This is, however, not a case of Vialli fluffing his Stamford Bridge history test. In saying what he said the player-manager is looking forward, not back. For he believes that a victory over VfB Stuttgart in Stockholm's Rasunda Stadium tonight is the next crucial step along Chelsea's evolutionary path.

As with early man, fate could make a monkey of Vialli's theory, but he does firmly believe that if the club take the right developmental turning tonight they could soon be ruling all they survey.

"This game is the first step to Chelsea being one of the elite clubs in Europe," he said yesterday. "That is my dream, and this game is the next test of that. Then my next challenge is to win the Premiership and the Champions League, and a win here will give the players great confidence that they can beat anyone."

The progression so far has been impressive. In 1995 Chelsea lost to Real Zaragoza in the semi-final of this competition. Dennis Wise, the club captain, played in that side. "It just wasn't good enough then," he says. "The lack of quality showed. This current side's a lot better, simple as that. The players are more quality, and that's the difference."

Chelsea's Gustavo Poyet then played for Zaragoza and he is also impressed by the change. "Chelsea are a different team now, better than before," he says. "Then, they played like a normal English team with long balls and a big centre forward. Not any more."

Mark Hughes, who along with Poyet, Gianfranco Zola, Vialli and Mark Hughes possesses invaluable experience of playing in the final of this competition, scoring twice for Manchester United in 1991. And he believes the current Chelsea side is better even than that United side which itself went on to take such a grip on the English Premiership.

"Probably we are further on in our development than United were then," he says. "Individually, this side is better."

With money available for Vialli to add even more quality to his squad this summer, perhaps Chelsea can go on to be a force in Europe. First, though, they must prove themselves as a force in Scandanavia, and to that end they received the encouraging news yesterday that Zola has recovered from his groin strain and is fit to play, hoping to impress the Italian coach Cesare Maldini ahead of his World Cup squad announcement.

However, the injured Frank Sinclair is a nonstarter while Graeme Le Saux, whose crosses from the left are such an important part of Chelsea's attacking armoury, is struggling to recover from a bruised calf.

Going forward, of course, is what Chelsea do best and, as that is also Stuttgart's forte, we could be in for a refreshingly open game which has no time for the normal caution and nerves that so often throw a dull blanket over major finals.

It would be a huge surprise if Chelsea did not start with Zola and Vialli up front, with Tore Andre Flo and Hughes, possibly playing his final Chelsea game, on the bench in case the London team require a late winning goal to avoid the first European club final going to a Golden Goal.

The midfield should comprise Dan Petrescu, Wise, Roberto Di Matteo and Poyet, with a defence of Steve Clarke, Frank Leboeuf, Michael Duberry and hopefully Le Saux lining up in front of the ever-dependable Ed de Goey.

On this team rests Vialli's hopes for the night and the future. "We've had an excellent season and now it is up to us to make it extraordinary," he added. "I'm hoping this match is going to be not a party but a celebration of a very important moment for Chelsea FC."