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While Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their prospects of ending up in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped competition, securing a place in the top eight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Issue: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed since their defeat in Italy. After seemingly confirming their credentials with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a average team from Italy's top flight.

While critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca rotate his team like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“In my view in that game, first XI, we had on the field the majority of the team that featured against Tottenham, they played against Barcelona, they played against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the additional knockout round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then progress to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Merseyside 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: “It's interesting, 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” – a star striker explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a sad state. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve marching from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the ground that they were inevitably going to. Just arriving 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 letter o’ the day, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the regularity of representation in your mailbag is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.