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While The London club avoided a total demolition of their prospects of finishing in the highest eight places of the continental tournament opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of strolling directly into the round of 16. Naturally, the silver lining 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 Concern: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Bergamo. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, 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 team selection approach that appears to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view tonight, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Spurs, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” 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.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we will face the playoff and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the Premier 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 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” – Erling Haaland revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a pub 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 a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a mention in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of representation in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.