5 factors that derailed Chelsea's 2017/18 season

#5 The Champions League results against Roma

Chelsea's disastrous results against Roma in the Champions League harmed their season

Early on in this season’s Champions League, it looked like Chelsea were going to be genuine contenders. They started on fire, destroying the unheralded Azerbaijani side Qarabag, and then even managed to defeat perennial contenders Atletico Madrid away at the Wanda Metropolitano. But then they came up against Italian side Roma and everything seemed to go wrong.

Firstly – in a game made stranger by the decision of Conte to play defender David Luiz in midfield - Chelsea took a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge only to ship 3 goals before being rescued late on by Eden Hazard. And in the return fixture at the Stadio Olimpico, the Blues were simply demolished, losing 3-0 in one of their heavier European defeats in recent memory.

In both games Chelsea were largely outplayed by the Italian side, and the poor results meant that the Blues only managed to finish in second place in their group. The fact that they were unseeded going into the round of 16 meant that they drew Barcelona, and after securing a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge they were well beaten 3-0 at the Nou Camp.

Had they been able to secure better results against Roma, Chelsea would’ve avoided Barca in the round of 16 and may have drawn a weaker side like the one Roma played – Shakhtar Donetsk. And if that had happened, who knows what might’ve become of their season?

They could well have ridden the wave of momentum from the Champions League into the Premier League and not hit the sticky patch of form in early 2018 that likely ruined their campaign.