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While The London club avoided a total demolition of their chances of finishing in the highest eight places of the Bigger Cup group stage, they performed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Naturally, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, securing a top-eight finish may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Bergamo. Since apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an commanding victory of Barcelona, and then a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the manager maintains that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“I think tonight, first XI, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that play against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you see the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, if not, 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 Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “You know, 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 forced me to start on 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 on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any longtime reader of this column will know, the only effective pre-match protests involve walking from a pub that the supporters intended to visit anyway, to the stadium that they were always going to. Just showing up 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 Tuesday’s letter o’ the day, but also a mention in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield again surrendered points after leading, I am wondering: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your mailbag is inversely proportional to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.