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While Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their hopes of finishing 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. Naturally, the good news is that in the brief history of the recently revamped tournament, securing a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Sadly for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon since their loss in Italy. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, Chelsea have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now been beaten by a average team from Italy's top flight.

Although critics have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that appears to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the manager insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“I think tonight, starting team, we had on the field eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they play 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 look at the five changes that we did compared to previous game, it’s different.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they welcome this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we try to play the playoff and then go to the next round,” sniffed Maresca, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of seventh in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s somewhat ironic because his greatest wish 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 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 tearing it up in the Premier League.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve walking from a public house that the supporters planned to be at anyway, to the stadium 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 see that one correspondent not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in another reader's letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield once more surrendered points after leading, I am led to ponder: could the city be proving that the frequency of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the success of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – another fan.