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Although The London club didn’t completely torpedo their chances of ending up in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they performed 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 competition, achieving a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Problem: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element 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, 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 average team from Serie A.

While pundits have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the core of his first eleven for big matches is mostly fixed.

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they play 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 five changes that we did from the Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, before heading back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the playoff and then progress to the following stage,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a game against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the domestic 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 forced me to start on golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the ground that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I note 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 representation in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.