( CNN ) -- Ezequiel Lavezzi scored twice and strike partner Edinson Cavani also found the net as Napoli recovered from going a goal behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie . After Arsenal 's 4-0 thumping in Milan last week , Chelsea had an ideal opportunity to restore some pride for English clubs against Serie A opposition . And they got off to a superb start on a wet evening in southern Italy , by taking a 27th-minute lead . Villas Boas - Chelsea owners backing me in private . Dean Sturridge broke on the right for the visitors but his ball into the penalty area should have been dealt with by the Napoli defense . However , Paolo Cannavaro sliced his attempted clearance up in the air and Spanish international Juan Mata was lurking behind the defender to side-foot his shot past goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis . However , both defenses looked vulnerable in difficult conditions and it was no surprise when the home side leveled just 11 minutes later . Argentine striker Lavezzi collected the ball on the edge of the box and jinked inside Chelsea 's Raul Meireles before curling a sublime shot into the corner of Peter Cech 's net . And , Napoli completed their turnaround in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Gokhan Inler 's deep cross was bundled home by Cavani , who had drifted in behind the Chelsea defense . Both sides wasted opportunities to score in an end-to-end second half , but it was Napoli who found the net again with a third goal in the 65th minute . David Luiz failed to deal with a long ball out of the Napoli defense and allowed Cavani to nip ahead of him . The Uruguayan did superbly to steady himself and slide the ball across for the on-rushing Lavezzi to stroke him his second to double Napoli 's lead . A poor night for Chelsea could have become worse late on , when Ashley Cole 's goalline clearance deprived Christian Maggio of scoring a fourth goal which would surely have sealed Napoli 's qualification into the quarterfinals . Chelsea have now gone five matches without a victory as speculation continues over the future of under-pressure manager Andre Villas Boas . And the result also means the very real possibility of no English sides reaching the last eight of the competition for the first time since 1996 .
Ezequiel Lavezzi nets a double as Napoli come from behind to defeat Chelsea 3-1 in Italy . Edinson Cavani scores Napoli 's other goal after Juan Mata had given Chelsea the lead . The result means England are in danger of having no teams in the Champions League last eight .