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While Chelsea didn't entirely destroy their chances of ending up in the highest eight places of the Bigger Cup group stage, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of strolling directly into the round of 16. Naturally, the silver lining is that in the brief history of the recently revamped competition, securing a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Central Concern: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their defeat in Bergamo. Since apparently rubber-stamping their credentials with an commanding victory of Barcelona, followed by a bad-tempered draw with Arsenal, the team have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a dull draw at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

Although pundits have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that seems to see Enzo Maresca change his lineup incessantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his starting lineup for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch eight, nine players that play against Tottenham, they play against Barca, they played against Wolves, Arsenal,” he droned. “We had 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 from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to be victorious in their remaining two matches. First up, they welcome the unexpected contenders a Cypriot team, then travel back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, if not, we try to play the playoff and then go to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose following fixture is a match against an Merseyside team whose recent consistency has taken to them to the dizzy heights of seventh in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s actually funny because his biggest dream was me turning pro in golf. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to start on 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 scoring goals in the top flight.

Readers' Letters

“Well, no wonder Wolverhampton Wanderers 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 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” – a correspondent.

“I note that a reader 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 Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely related to the value of anything our teams are accomplishing on the field?” – a different supporter.