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Although The Blues didn’t completely torpedo their prospects of finishing in the highest eight places of the European competition group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of waltzing straight into the round of 16. Of course, the silver lining is that in the short one-year history of the recently revamped tournament, achieving a top-eight finish isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Core Issue: A Monotonous Inconsistency

Unfortunately for Stamford Bridge regulars, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been widely discussed following their loss in Italy. Since seemingly confirming their credentials with an commanding victory of a European giant, followed by a feisty stalemate with a London rival, Chelsea have been defeated by a Championship side, played out a snoozy stalemate at Bournemouth and have now lost against a mid-table side from Serie A.

Although critics have been eager to point the finger on a team selection approach that seems to see the coach change his lineup like a kebab shop’s elephant leg of doner meat, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the nucleus of his first eleven for big matches is mostly fixed.

“I think in that game, first XI, we had inside the pitch the majority of the team that play against Spurs, they played against Barca, they play against Wolverhampton, Arsenal,” he stated. “There were eight, nine players that are the ones playing every time for these kind of games. So if you see the several alterations that we did from the previous game, it’s different.”

The Path Forward

To have any realistic chance of avoiding the additional knockout round, Chelsea will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they host this season’s surprise package Pafos, before heading 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 the Italian coach, whose next appointment is a game against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the domestic league.

Side Stories

Notable Comment: “You know, it’s actually funny because his greatest wish was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his ultimate ambition. So when I was 10, he pushed me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – Erling Haaland explained how, if his father had his preference, he could have been teeing off rather than scoring goals in the top flight.

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 ground that they were always going to. Just showing up 10 minutes late? That’s how long it takes fans to get to their seats anyway” – a correspondent.

“I see that a reader not only got the previous featured letter, but also a mention in a separate letter. On a night where both clubs from Sheffield 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 related to the success of anything our teams are achieving on the field?” – another fan.