With Manchester United cruising past Rangers, the expected fireworks of the "Battle of Britain" (second leg) turned out to be more of a damp squib.

BACK PAGE HEADLINES The Times: Wenger makes light of task Daily Express: Roman conquest Daily Mail: I'm back The Guardian: O'Neill puts faith in home virtues Daily Mirror: Ruud's on the rampage The Sun: Kickin' Kiev Daily Star: Hitman Henry needs a hand The Daily Telegraph: Adams on the O'Neill route at Wycombe The Independent : Injury forces Owen to miss England game

Instead, it was the Claudio Ranieri's men who lit the blue touchpaper and fired up the headline-writers with their 4-0 win in Rome.

"Hail Claudio, the Roman emperor!" says the Daily Mirror, while the Daily Express talks of Chelsea's "Olympic games" at the Olympic Stadium.

The story of the Blues also has that key ingredient so beloved of the tabloids - the dastardly foreign player whose bad behaviour can be moralised over.

In this case, it's Lazio's Serbian midfielder Sinisa Mihaljovic, caught on camera spitting in the face of Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu.

"Blue joy after spat in Rome" says the Mirror, labelling Mihaljovic's saliva-soaked assault on Mutu as "a disgusting attack".

Ruud van Nistelrooy's double strike against Rangers has a few of the papers drooling in a different way.

"Red-hot Ruud is back in the groove," purrs the Daily Mail, while the Express says "Van man finds cruise control".

A lack of goals not scored by Thierry Henry is seen as Arsenal's big failing in Europe by the Daily Star.

The paper says Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has "ordered his Euro flops to take the heat off Henry" ahead of Wednesday's do-or-die game against Dynamo Kiev.

Finally, away from football, a Sun exclusive reveals that England's Josh Lewsey - set to face Wales in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals - has... wait for it... a Welsh mum.

"I'm proud of my heritage," says the full-back, described by ever-temperate tabloid as "three-quarters Taffy" despite being born in Kent.