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While The Blues didn't entirely destroy their prospects of finishing in the highest eight places of the European competition opening phase, they performed a targeted blow on their own hopes of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, achieving a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Issue: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed since their defeat in Italy. Since apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, and then a feisty stalemate with a London rival, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

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 Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they play against Barca, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they host this season’s surprise package Pafos, before heading back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we try to play the playoff and then go to the next round,” sniffed Maresca, whose following fixture is a game against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream 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 played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters planned to be at 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 the previous featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.