Chelsea ultimately fell short in their bid to secure Champions League football next season, but of more pressing concern to manager Antonio Conte was the nature of their meek surrender to Newcastle United a week out from an FA Cup final showdown with Manchester United.
The Blues were second best on a day when they would have wanted to keep the pressure on Liverpool, as well as serve a warning to the Red Devils and former manager Jose Mourinho, who lie in wait at Wembley next Saturday.
The Magpies flew out of the traps and took a 1-0 lead into the break thanks to Dwight Gayle’s headed opener. Slack Chelsea defending led to Ayoze Perez scoring a second-half brace as Rafa Benitez stuck the knife into his former side.
Here, we look at some talking points from the game.
HARDLY IDEAL PREPARATION FOR A FINAL
Antonio Conte lined his bench with the players he will likely call upon when Chelsea try to dress up a woeful season with a little glamour next weekend as they look to lift a fifth FA Cup title in 12 years.
Alvaro Morata, Willian, Marcos Alonso and Cesc Fabregas all looked on as the Magpies picked off the visitors, with the game over before any of them were summoned.
The top-four was a remote possibility before kick-off but that was barely a secondary concern here, with a shot at redemption and a piece of silverware within reach next weekend.
Even the FA Cup would not render this season a success for Chelsea, but Conte will have been concerned by the total lack of appetite shown by his players.
The only contribution from Eden Hazard, who has been resurgent in recent weeks, was the ninth worst passing accuracy of all 22 starters (80 per cent success rate), and he was outshone by Jonjo Shelvey.
Olivier Giroud almost scored a spectacular goal to rival his scorpion kick for Arsenal against Crystal Palace last season, but otherwise contributed little, while Tiemoue Bakayoko remains worryingly cumbersome, his poor clearance leading to Newcastle’s game-clinching second goal.
On this evidence, the casual spectator would think it was Newcastle preparing for an FA Cup final, not Chelsea. Former Blues manager Jose Mourinho would have been watching with a wry smile adorning his face.
Eden Hazard has been in decent form of late, but was poor against Newcastle.
MORE TO COME FROM NEWCASTLE NEXT SEASON?
Their penultimate four games of the season aside, the Magpies have been soaring in the second half of the campaign.
Rafa Benitez’s high-flying side launched themselves from a perilous position just before Christmas to a 10th place finish upon promotion a year ago.
On Boxing Day they lost 1-0 to Manchester City – a ninth defeat in their last 11 games – so you would have forgiven Toon Army fans for feeling less than festive.
But Saint Nick it seems was simply just delayed on his way to Tyneside, as he’s bestowed some belated New Year cheer on the club – who lost just two of the next 13, winning six, with a succession of four straight victories over Southampton, Huddersfield, Leicester and Arsenal seeing them steadily ascend the table.
With this progress in mind, what is Newcastle’s ceiling for next season? Safety assured on their top-flight return, the Magpies must now look to spread their wings in 2018/19.
They’re a big club with a following and stadium to rival the biggest in England, but a title challenge is beyond them. A return to Europe, however, isn’t. Just look at Burnley.
It was only six years ago when Newcastle finished fifth in the Premier League and qualified for the Europa League. With a manager of Bentiez’s talent and experience, a solid squad with room for improvement, rejoining the elite and striving for European football must be the ambition.
The Magpies must use their end of season run to push on for more next season.
CHELSEA SHOWING LITTLE FIGHT SHOWS DEEPER ISSUES LIE BENEATH
Newcastle were excellent, especially when their hard work had been completed weeks ago and little was riding on the final game of the season for them.
That makes Chelsea’s lifeless display all the more worrying. True, a top-four finish was an extremely remote possibility. They needed Liverpool to lose at home to Brighton, who secured their safety a week ago.
And with Conte surely on his way, there was predictably little appetite from a set of players who will be far from unhappy to see him leave in the summer.
We all know the rise of player power over the last decade can lead to managers’ authority being regularly undermined, but for two title-winning managers to depart under dark clouds in under three years screams of an epidemic of epic proportions at Stamford Bridge.
Everyone knows Mourinho is a divisive character. But for the Portuguese to be pushed out the door at a club that owes its current standing and success to him, was an early indicator all is not well. Conte’s troubles are a gigantic flashing distress signal.
After the disastrous 2016/17 campaign in which they finished 10th – their worst Premier League position since 1995/96 – Conte restored order. The title was reclaimed and the previous year’s problems were heralded over and laid at Mourinho’s door.
But another 12 months on, Blues fans are feeling off-colour once again. And while fifth is better than 10th, Chelsea are only a point closer to the champions than they were two years ago. Their issues go beyond the manager.
Anotnio Conte may be on his way out, but there are underlying issues at Chelsea.
