Blues boss Villas-Boas reacted to Tuesday's night's crucial Champions League win over Valencia by suggesting there had been an agenda against the club from those spellbound by the performances of Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Villas-Boas admitted the slump from which Chelsea are only just emerging had provided ammunition to their detractors, who have included several big-name ex-players.

But he maintained most of the criticism levelled at him and his squad was out of order.

"A lot of things that were said, most of the things, were wrong," he said.

"One day I will open the doors of training for you guys for a couple of days and you will see the players have the talent and ability and want to compete.

"That's what we hold on to during extreme criticism."

He added: "It's fair for you guys to admit that the media darlings of the press are blue collar and not Chelsea.

"We were unfairly treated a couple of times, and fairly by yourselves in the beginning.

"It's a love and hate relationship."

Villas-Boas certainly did not love reports this week of heated dressing room exchanges between himself and his players.

"If their informant got paid, get the money back," said the 34-year-old, who has nevertheless demonstrated a ruthless streak to get Chelsea back to winning ways, axing Nicolas Anelka and Alex from his first-team squad and dropping Frank Lampard on Tuesday.

Asked if being liked by his players or people in general bothered him, he said: "I don't care."

In truth, it matters little whether Villas-Boas is liked as long as Chelsea keep winning, and he has the ideal opportunity to convert his doubters on Monday when City visit Stamford Bridge.

Roberto Mancini's men and Manchester United have hardly been spared the flak over the past couple of days after crashing out of the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Villas-Boas played down the implications of City's demise both for Monday's game and the rest of a season which will see them and United compete in the Europa League.

"We go back to the Premier League where they are more than fair leaders with outstanding performance levels," Villas-Boas said of City, who have dropped just four points all season.

"When you see a leader of this dimension, it's never a good time to play them. They're outstanding every week."

They are also 10 points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea and will make that a whopping 13 if they win at Stamford Bridge.

Villas-Boas insisted recovering from that deficit was "not impossible" and was adamant his side did not need to win the game themselves to remain realistic title contenders.

He added: "There's no quitting, and there will be quitting of belief. But 13 points would be a massive gap again."

Victory, meanwhile, would give a huge psychological boost to a Chelsea side who have lost all their domestic matches against other big teams this season.

Having produced a run of five defeats in nine games, the Blues have now won three of their last four and Villas-Boas admitted they needed "one more" success to prove they were back in the groove.

He added: "But we're playing the leaders, and they'll put on a massive challenge for us."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp recently hailed City's squad as better than Barcelona's.

Villas-Boas disagreed and also questioned whether they could go a whole league season unbeaten, like his own Porto side did last year.

But he added: "The further they go in the league with the amount of wins they've been having, the more they'll believe this is their year."

Having already been to Old Trafford, Anfield and White Hart Lane, Monday's game is one of the last of City's tough away trips this term and it will be fascinating to see how Villas-Boas sets out his team after sacrificing his cavalier ideals for victory on Tuesday night.

"We've seen teams try different things against City, and no one has beaten them," he said.

"We have to think."