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While The London club avoided a total demolition of their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Issue: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, the team have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a average team from Italy's top flight.

While pundits 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 maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they played against Wolves, the Gunners,” he stated. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you look at the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they welcome 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 will face the playoff and then progress to the next round,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. 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” – a star striker explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

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