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Although The Blues didn’t completely torpedo their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the continental tournament opening phase, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Problem: A Predictable Inconsistency

Unfortunately for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon since their defeat in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

While pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that seems to see the coach change his lineup like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the manager insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for big matches is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that featured against Spurs, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he stated. “We had eight, nine players that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has taken to them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. 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” – a star striker revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 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 the previous featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.