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While The Blues didn't entirely destroy their prospects of finishing in the highest eight places of the continental tournament opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own hopes of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, 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 Core Problem: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their quality with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, the team have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now been beaten by a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a team selection approach that seems to see the coach change his lineup constantly, the manager maintains that, knack and naughty step permitting, 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 eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they played against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones consistently selected for these kind of games. So if you look at the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to be victorious in their final two group games. In the first, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, then travel back to the continent to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, otherwise, we try to play the extra round and then go to the next round,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he forced me to take up golf. So I played golf every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland revealed how, had his dad got his way, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular 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 arriving 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I see that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a name check in another reader's 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 letters section is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – a different supporter.