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While The London club didn't entirely destroy their hopes of finishing in the top eight of the continental tournament group stage, they executed a precise, surgical strike on their own chances of waltzing straight into the knockout stages. Of course, the good news is that in the short one-year history of the new and not-necessarily-improved tournament, achieving a place in the top eight may not be as crucial as it seems.

The Central Problem: A Predictable Inconsistency

Sadly for the club's supporters, the only consistent thing about Enzo Maresca’s side is a monotonously predictable inconsistency, which has been much remarked upon since their loss in Italy. After seemingly confirming their quality with an impressive beat-down of a European giant, and then a feisty stalemate with a London rival, the team have been stuffed by Leeds, played out a snoozy stalemate at the south coast club and have now lost against a average team from Serie A.

While pundits have been eager to point the finger on a selection policy that seems to see the coach rotate his team incessantly, the manager insists that, injuries and suspensions aside, the core of his first eleven for big matches is largely set in stone.

“In my view in that game, starting team, we had on the field the majority of the team that play against Tottenham, they play against Barcelona, they played 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 a different situation.”

What Comes Next

For a genuine opportunity of escaping the additional knockout round, they will have to win their remaining two matches. In the first, they host the unexpected contenders Pafos, before heading back to Italy to face the Serie A champions, Napoli.

“Victories in both are required, otherwise, we will face the playoff and then progress to the following stage,” remarked Maresca, whose next appointment is a match against an Everton team whose recent consistency has propelled them to the surprising position of the top half in the Premier League.

Other Notes

Quote of the Day: “It's interesting, it’s somewhat ironic because his biggest dream was me becoming a professional golfer. That was his biggest dream. So when I was 10, he forced me to take up golf. So I practiced every week from when I was 10 to 13” – a star striker explained 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 Wolverhampton Wanderers are in such a sad state. As any regular reader of this column will know, the only good pre-match protests involve marching from a pub 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” – a correspondent.

“I see that a reader not only got Tuesday’s featured letter, but also a name check in a separate letter. On a night where both Sheffield teams 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?” – a different supporter.