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Although Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the continental tournament opening phase, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Naturally, the silver lining 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 Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their loss in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, Chelsea 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 Serie A.

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

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we try to play the playoff and then go to the following stage,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has taken to them to the surprising position of seventh in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced 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.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 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 Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the regularity of appearances in your mailbag is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.