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Although The Blues didn’t completely torpedo their chances of ending up in the highest eight places of the continental tournament group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, achieving a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Concern: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed since their loss in Bergamo. After seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, and then a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

Although pundits 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, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“I think in that game, first XI, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Spurs, they played against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he stated. “We had eight, nine players that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you see the five changes that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we will face the playoff and then go to the following stage,” sniffed Maresca, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. 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 revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium 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 a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of representation in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.