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Although The Blues didn’t completely torpedo their chances of ending up in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Issue: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about the Chelsea team is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their defeat in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their quality with an commanding victory of Barcelona, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

While pundits 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 maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“In my view in that game, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he droned. “We had eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the several alterations that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their final two group games. First up, they host this season’s surprise package a Cypriot team, before heading back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we try to play the playoff and then go to the next round,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, 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 start on golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching 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” – a correspondent.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.