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Although Chelsea didn’t completely torpedo their prospects of finishing in the top eight of the European competition opening phase, they performed a targeted blow on their own chances of strolling directly into the round of 16. Naturally, the good news is that in the brief history of the new and not-necessarily-improved competition, achieving a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Issue: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the sole predictable element about Enzo Maresca’s side is a reliably erratic lack of consistency, which has been much remarked upon following their defeat in Bergamo. After apparently rubber-stamping their quality with an impressive beat-down of Barcelona, and then a bad-tempered draw with a London rival, the team have been defeated by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now lost against a mid-table side from Italy's top flight.

Although pundits have been quick to lay the blame on a selection policy that appears to see the coach rotate his team constantly, the Chelsea head coach insists that, knack and naughty step permitting, the nucleus of his first eleven for games against strong opposition is largely set in stone.

“I think in that game, starting team, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that play against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they play against Wolves, the Gunners,” he droned. “There were most of the regulars that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you look at the five changes that we did from the previous game, it’s a different situation.”

What Comes Next

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the Bigger Cup playoff round, they will have to win their final two group games. First up, they host this season’s surprise package a Cypriot team, then travel back to Italy to face the Italian title holders, the Neapolitan side.

“We need to win both, if not, we try to play the extra round and then progress to the next round,” sniffed the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose current form has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Notable Comment: “It's interesting, 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 forced me to start on golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, had his dad got his way, he could have been on the golf course rather than scoring goals in the Premier League.

Fan Correspondence

“So, no wonder Wolves are in such a poor situation. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only effective 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” – one reader.

“I see that a reader not only got the previous letter o’ the day, 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 wondering: could Sheffield be proving that the regularity of appearances in your letters section is inversely proportional to the value of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.