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While The London club avoided a total demolition of their chances of finishing in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed since their defeat in Bergamo. 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 Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now lost against a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team incessantly, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they play against Barcelona, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they host this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“We need to win both, if not, we will face the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment 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.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, 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 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 on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolves 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 intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.