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While Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their prospects of ending up in the highest eight places of the continental tournament opening phase, they executed a targeted blow on their own chances of automatically qualifying for the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Core Concern: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about the Chelsea team is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been widely discussed since their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with Arsenal, Chelsea have been defeated by Leeds, 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 eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that appears to see the coach change his lineup incessantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his starting lineup for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“In my view tonight, starting team, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Spurs, they played against Barcelona, they play against Wolverhampton, the Gunners,” he stated. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for matches of this magnitude. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

For a genuine opportunity of avoiding the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. First up, they host this season’s surprise package Pafos, then travel back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, the Neapolitan side.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we try to play the extra round and then go to the following stage,” sniffed Maresca, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose current form has propelled them to the dizzy heights of the top half in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “You know, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. 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” – a star striker revealed how, if his father had his preference, he could have been on the golf course rather than tearing it up in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any longtime reader of this email will know, the only effective 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 showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – one reader.

“I see that a reader not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in another reader's letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams once more dropped points after leading, I am led to ponder: 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?” – another fan.