Roman Abramovich's £500 million floating palace, rather like her owner, is in no rush. The coral rooftops of Dubrovnik were aglow in blazing August sunshine when the Eclipse, a status symbol twice the size of Stamford Bridge's pitch, loomed into view and dropped anchor.

The Zupa bay in the northern Adriatic is Abramovich's favoured late summer haunt and, in years gone by, he has been known to lunch with his loved ones in the old town, then set off from either of the 533ft superyacht's two landing pads for Chelsea's early-season matches.

He would have been in his element tonight. Chelsea play Ajax in a blue riband Champions League tie in the kind of match that caused Abramovich - who famously fell in love with football watching a classic European tie between Manchester United and Real Madrid in 2003 - to buy the club in the first place.

However, after an extended two-month stay in Croatia, the Eclipse is now slowly setting off to warmer waters in the opposite direction. The port she left late on Sunday is as close as Chelsea's owner will get to west London during his self-imposed exile.