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Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their prospects of ending up in the highest eight places of the European competition group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own hopes of strolling directly 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 may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Italy's top flight.

While critics have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the manager maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his first eleven for big matches is mostly fixed.

“In my view in that game, first XI, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we try to play the extra round and then progress to the next round,” 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 domestic league.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. 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, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters intended to visit 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” – a correspondent.

“I see that a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, 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 value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.