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While The Blues didn't entirely destroy their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the Bigger Cup group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Concern: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed since their loss in Italy. Since apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although pundits 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 first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you look at the several alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of escaping the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their final two group games. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the playoff and then go to the next round,” sniffed Maresca, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. 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 explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up 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 good pre-match protests involve walking from a public house 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 a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again dropped points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.