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Although The Blues avoided a total demolition of their hopes of ending up in the top eight of the continental tournament group stage, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of strolling directly into the knockout stages. Naturally, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Concern: A Predictable Inconsistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their defeat in Italy. After seemingly confirming their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

While pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach rotate his team constantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they played 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 look at the several alterations that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. In the first, they host 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 will face the playoff and then go to the next round,” remarked the Italian coach, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the domestic league.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s actually funny 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” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this email will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always 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 a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: could Sheffield be proving that the frequency of representation in your letters section is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.