Reported today in Football365. Fourth-placed Chelsea can stretch their lead over Manchester United in fifth to six points with victory over Bournemouth on Saturday, in their quest for Champions League qualification. Such is the inconsistency of Frank Lampard's team and those scrabbling at their stuttering heels, it's impossible to predict whether they will indeed end the season as one of the tallest dwarves or be left staring up at the you must be this tall to ride sign. But do Chelsea really want to be on the Champions League rollercoaster next season?
The Blues have never been torn apart at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League as they were by Bayern Munich on Tuesday night. Such was the difference in quality, there was no room for the feelings of frustration that have typified their season. And a sense of embarrassment as the Bundesliga giants eased into what is a seemingly unassailable lead in the tie were quickly replaced by a pure, if horrifying, acceptance that Chelsea were – and are – simply nowhere near good enough.
Qualification for the Champions League has become an all encompassing obsession. It far outweighs domestic cup glory and is frequently mentioned as a possible carrot for the winners, to encourage teams to even bother in those competitions; players are bought and sold according to whether they can boost a team's chances of getting into the hallowed ground of the top four. Qualification is now somehow more important than how a team performs when actually competing in it – a notion which kept Arsene Wenger in a job at least five years past his sell-by date. Chelsea's loss on Tuesday was met with little more than a shrug of the shoulders, whereas failure to qualify for next season's competition would be a catastrophe.
Should this Chelsea side make it
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