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While Chelsea avoided a total demolition of their chances of ending up in the highest eight places of the European competition group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own hopes of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Problem: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon following their loss in Italy. After seemingly confirming their quality 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 snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now lost against a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see the coach change his lineup like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the Chelsea head coach maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for big matches is mostly fixed.

“I think tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that featured against Spurs, they play against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the several alterations that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. First up, they host the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the extra round and then progress to the following stage,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose current form has taken to them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s actually funny because his greatest wish 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 teeing off rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column 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” – one reader.

“I note that a reader 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 Sheffield be proving that the frequency of appearances in your mailbag is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.