Blues revival means nothing yet, as comparisons between Chelsea and Inter mount up.

Since the sacking of Andre Vilas-Boas, Chelsea have won all four of their games, including an impressive 4-1 home win over Napoli in the last 16 of the Champions League; however the Blues need look no further then Inter Milan to show that a caretaker manager and a half decent run of results, can’t paper over the huge amount of cracks at the football club.

Since Jose Mourinho (with the exception of Carlo Ancelotti) the club has struggled to repeat the ‘Special One’s’ heights, something identical in Inter Milan. Chelsea have coped with the loss of Mourinho; however Inter are still mourning. In the summer of 2010 Inter Milan completed the treble; yet four managers and 20 months later the club find themselves 20 points behind their city rivals AC and out of both cup competitions. The month of February saw the Italian giants reach a new low as the club went on a run of six games without a win (which included five successive goalless defeats), which all but extinguished their top three aspirations.

The shadow of Mourinho still lurks over Chelsea and Inter Milan 

Roberto Di Matteo doesn’t have a managerial record to match his caretaker counterpart Claudio Ranieri, and despite being a club legend, many didn’t expect Chelsea to get the better of Napoli under his guidance, much in the same way not many were predicting an Inter Milan win away to their city rivals AC in the biggest match in Italian football. That win for Inter was in the middle of their best form of the season, as the club peaked at seven wins on the trot; however defeat to Leece and an incredible 4-4 draw with Palermo saw the clubs form nosedive (which is stated above).

Chelsea have to avoid falling into the same trap as Inter and if the club have a similar off the field pattern as Inter Milan, then their squad is also in a similar shape: Big centre forwards transfers have flopped as neither Fernando Torres nor Diego Forlan have gone close to justifying their moves; both squads have had their doubters over the amount of genuine quality in the side; both have a high amount of players reaching the end of their careers; both have spent big an attempt to regain domestic control.

I’m not saying Chelsea will fall so heavily from grace like Inter have; however if Chelsea hadn’t overcome Napoli (saying that I expect Benfica to edge out Chelsea in the quarter finals) then their seasons wouldn’t be too dissimilar. Chelsea, unlike Inter Milan, for a surprise change in this piece, were fortunate in the sense they got a favourable domestic cup draw meaning an FA Cup run has just covered over how far the Blues are behind both the Manchester clubs. The Chelsea dressing room is easily the hardest to control, with a number of huge egos at the club; and if Chelsea slip up soon I wouldn’t be surprised to see the wheels really fall of the Di Matteo bandwagon.

Napoli romp ends Ranieri's short Inter honeymoon

Napoli moved top of the Serie with a controversial yet stunning 3-0 victory over Inter Milan in the San Siro.

A Marek Hamsik inspired Napoli were undoubtedly fortunate to take a lead in at half time, as Hugo Campagnaro smashed home after Hamsik's dubious penalty was saved. The controversial moment of the game occured after Joel Obi 's foul on Christian Maggio, which was a good yard outside the area, saw the Nigerian collect his marching orders for a second yellow card offence.

The second half however was a difference story as Napoli outclassed Inter's ten men, and further goals from Maggio and man of the match Hamsik meant Claudio Ranieri's honeymoon spell with Inter had well and truely ended.

Both sides came into the match on the back of their first Champions League victory of the season, however both inconsistent in the League. Another theme the two had in common was the absence of their key player as Inter were without Wesley Sneijder and Napoli missing their talismanic striker Edison Cavani.

Diego Forlan came the closest early on as Inter Milan dominated the early proceedings. The Uruguayans' shot went marginally wide of Morgan De Santics post, with the keeper beaten.

The returning Maicon was a threat down the right hand side, with the pace of the full-back on occasions ensuring the Brazilian got in behind the Napoli back three, however his composure when in the danger zone was poor and twice failed to find his team mate when well placed.

Inter continued to dictate the play and Giampaolo Pazzini had a goal disallowed for offside. The Italian striker reacted quickest to a De Santics parry from an Estaban Cambiasso drive, however the former Fiorentina man was, marginally offside.

The games turning point however happened on 41 minutes when Obi was adjudged to have fouled Maggio inside the box. The decision was highly controversial as the foul was clearly committed outside the penalty area. To rub salt into the Inter Milan wound, the unfortunate Nigerian was also shown a second yellow card for the incident.

Hamsik saw his spot kick saved by Julio Cesar, however the rebound fell nicely for Campagnaro who smashed past the Brazilian keeper.

A number of Inter players' frustrations boiled over as they surrounded the referee minutes after the decision and Cristian Zanetti and Julio Cesar picked up yellow cards for dissent. Cesar in particular crossed a line, as he had to consistently be held back by team mates and his actions where fortunate not to result in a second Inter red card.

Inter replaced the injured Cristian Chivu with Yuto Nagatoma at half time, and the Japanese full-back was at fault for an out of the blue Napoli second. Inter despite being down to ten men came out of the traps the quickest, however a long ball caused confusion between the duo as they both left the ball for each other and Maggio got in between the duo to loft the ball brilliantly over Cesar's head.

The goal ensured Inter Milan had conceded the most goals in Serie A this season.

With Napoli now in complete control, Zuniga incredibly missed an open goal from inside the 6 yard box to kill off the 2010 Serie A Champions. A one two between Zuniga and Hamsik saw the later released into the Inter box, the Slovakian unselfishly squared it for Zuniga who somehow contrived the blaze over with the goal gapping.

Napoli were demonstrating perfectly how to keep at bay ten men, and after a spell of five unchallenged minutes of possession, Ezequiel Lavezzi expertly thread the ball through for Hamsik who smashed by the helpless Cesar for an incredible third.

The full time whistle meant Napoli have beaten both Milan sides already this season, scoring three on both occasions.

The result enhances the belief Napoli have a genuine chance of winning the Scudetto as well as confirming Inter's place in the bottom half of the table.