What Champions League failure means for 'broken club' Chelsea

Qualifying for the Champions League is now a near-impossible dream for a Chelsea side whose season is ending in disarray.

Monday's 3-1 home defeat by Nottingham Forest leaves the managerless Blues ninth in the Premier League as their campaign continues to collapse.

Joao Pedro's stoppage-time overhead kick did save Chelsea the humiliation of losing six matches in a row without scoring for the first time in their history, but it was scant consolation.

The defeat means the Blues have now lost six consecutive league games for the first time since November 1993 - and just the fourth time ever.

It is just the second time they have lost four successive home matches, and the first time since 1978.

Large numbers of home fans piled out of Stamford Bridge long before the final whistle, while those who remained left the home side in no doubt about their anger with loud jeers.

Chelsea, now led by interim boss Calum McFarlane after Liam Rosenior's dismissal, are an insurmountable 10 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa - the last spot that guarantees Champions League football - with just three games left.

Should Villa win the Europa League and finish fifth, a sixth-placed finish would be enough, but even Chelsea's four-point gap to that spot looks tough to bridge given their form.

Qualifying for the Champions League is now a near-impossible dream for a Chelsea side whose season is ending in disarray.

Monday's 3-1 home defeat by Nottingham Forest leaves the managerless Blues ninth in the Premier League as their campaign continues to collapse.

Joao Pedro's stoppage-time overhead kick did save Chelsea the humiliation of losing six matches in a row without scoring for the first time in their history, but it was scant consolation.

The defeat means the Blues have now lost six consecutive league games for the first time since November 1993 - and just the fourth time ever.

It is just the second time they have lost four successive home matches, and the first time since 1978.

Large numbers of home fans piled out of Stamford Bridge long before the final whistle, while those who remained left the home side in no doubt about their anger with loud jeers.

Chelsea, now led by interim boss Calum McFarlane after Liam Rosenior's dismissal, are an insurmountable 10 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa - the last spot that guarantees Champions League football - with just three games left.

Should Villa win the Europa League and finish fifth, a sixth-placed finish would be enough, but even Chelsea's four-point gap to that spot looks tough to bridge given their form.

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