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While The London club didn't entirely destroy their chances of ending up in the highest eight places of the continental tournament opening phase, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped competition, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Concern: A Predictable Lack of Consistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Italy. After seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, the team have been defeated by Leeds, played out a dull draw at Bournemouth and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that appears to see the coach rotate his team constantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had on the field the majority of the team that play against Spurs, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you look at the five changes that we did from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, Chelsea will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they host this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

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

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. 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 email will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were inevitably going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your mailbag is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.