Chelsea are out of the Champions League. Their quarter-final finish is a respectable one in isolation but in the current circumstances it is merely a reflection of the club's fall from the top.
The top is a good place to start. Chelsea got there, sort of. The Champions League 2021 win followed-up by winning the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup was the pinacle. The unexpected end-point for a club that had, just in time, won it all under Roman Abramovich.
19 years. He came, he saw, he conquered. Whether Chelsea really got to the top in May 2021 in a true sense is another question. The club were once again 19 points off the league winners, perhaps a better reflection of just how good a team is. There's no downplaying the Champions League but it's not as good of an indicator for sustainably elite teams as the league.
