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Although The Blues didn't entirely destroy their chances of finishing in the highest eight places of the continental tournament group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped competition, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their loss in Bergamo. After seemingly confirming their quality with an commanding victory of Barcelona, and then a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

While critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach rotate his team constantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they played against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were 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 from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we will face the extra round and then progress to the next round,” remarked Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “You know, 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 pushed me to take up golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“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 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 one correspondent not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of representation in your mailbag is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.