Terry believes he can still secure salvation

It’s definitely top of my list in terms of things I want to achieve

It has been the most frustrating, most difficult, most turbulent season of John Terry’s career, both on and off the pitch; but the Chelsea captain is clinging to the unlikely dream that thanks to the Champions League it could also be his most memorable.

On the face of it, Terry has plenty of reasons to want season 2011-12 to be expunged from the annals of Chelsea football history; after all, it has seen him sacked as England captain, taken to court over accusations of racism, suffer on the pitch as Chelsea slumped out of Premier League contention — and forced to defend himself against claims that player power got manager Andre Villas-Boas sacked as a consequence.

Add in problems with injury at various stages of the campaign and the Stamford Bridge captain could be forgiven for going into hiding; something conspiracy theorists thought may well be happening when he suffered a mysterious knee injury on the eve of his court case but suddenly returned to action once the publicity had died down and his manager had been shown the door.

But whatever you may think of Terry’s character or moral standing off the pitch it would be wrong to suggest he is the kind of man to hide from responsibility on it.

In fact he is desperate to save his team from possibly their worst season of football since owner Roman Abramovich first arrived in England in 2003; and he still sees a chance of redemption at the end of it all.

Chelsea may be out of contention in the league and regarded as a fading force by their rivals, but they are the only English club remaining in Europe; and with Benfica to face in the quarter-finals — starting with a match in the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon tomorrow night and continuing with a home leg on April 4 — there is a real chance of ending a difficult season on a high.

The winners of the tie are likely to face Barcelona in the semi-finals and there are many pundits who believe Chelsea, despite their limitations, may be the one team in Europe with the mental grit and pugnacious spirit strong enough to beat the champions.

“We’ll deal with that if it comes, but it’s a long way off,” said Terry. “We have to think about one game at a time and any team in the quarter-final is going to be a tough one. But of course we’ve got a lot of memories of playing Barcelona before — good ones and difficult ones. And we know how good they are — if you look at the clubs still in the Champions League they stand out from everyone. They are the favourites. But there are other teams that can win it — including us.”

Terry, of course, has history in the Champions League after so many years attempting, and failing, to win it.

It was his penalty miss, when he slipped on the turf in a shoot-out against Manchester United in Moscow, that cost Chelsea the chance of lifting the famous trophy in 2008; and he regards it as unfinished business.

“I don’t want to finish my career without winning it,” he admitted. “It’s definitely top of my list in terms of things I want to achieve with Chelsea.”

Just a few weeks ago it would have been laugh-out-loud insanity to even suggest Chelsea had a chance of doing so this season, or any season in the near future given the way they hire and fire managers with such regularity at Stamford Bridge.

But under Roberto Di Matteo the spirit of the team has returned, along with a growing feeling that a sour season could end in sweet success.

“We’ve still go the FA Cup, we’ve still got the Champions League,” insisted Terry. “The way I see it, this could still go down as one of the best seasons in Chelsea’s history.”