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While The Blues avoided a total demolition of their chances of ending up in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own hopes of automatically qualifying for the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped tournament, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their defeat in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see the coach change his lineup constantly, the Chelsea head coach 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 eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he droned. “We had most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you see 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 be victorious in their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “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 pushed me to start on golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker explained 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

“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 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” – one reader.

“I note that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the regularity of representation in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.