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Although Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their prospects of ending up in the top eight of the European competition group stage, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped tournament, securing a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Concern: A Monotonous Lack of Consistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Italy. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality 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 Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

While critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach rotate his team constantly, the manager maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that featured against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, 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 see the several alterations that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

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

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

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny 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 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 top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium 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 note that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the regularity of representation in your mailbag is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.