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While Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their chances of ending up in the top eight of the continental tournament group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Predictable Inconsistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think tonight, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he droned. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the five changes that we did from the previous game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Merseyside team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, 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 take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been teeing off rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a public house 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 note 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 again surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.