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While The London club avoided a total demolition of their prospects of ending up in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Naturally, the good news 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 Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their loss in Italy. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, the team have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now lost against a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

While pundits have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had on the field the majority of the team that play against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he droned. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to be victorious in their final two group games. First up, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, if not, we will face the extra round and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Merseyside team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me turning pro in golf. 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” – a star striker revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been teeing off rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit 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 one correspondent not only got Tuesday’s letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.