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While The Blues didn't entirely destroy their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Concern: A Predictable Inconsistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their loss in Italy. Since apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now lost against a mid-table side from Serie A.

While critics have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that seems to see the coach change his lineup incessantly, the manager maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they play against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the five changes that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their final two group games. In the first, they welcome this season’s surprise package a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then go to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a game against an Merseyside team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the surprising position of the top half in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he forced me to start on golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I note that a reader not only got Tuesday’s letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.