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.
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The season after winning the Champions League they also ended up 19 points from Manchester City. Real Madrid will argue that the best of the best win the Champions League, as they probably should. But while Chelsea filled their boots with cup finals and decent runs in Europe between 2017 and 2021 they fell further and further off the domestic pace.
Madrid have been serial winners of the European Cup in the past decade, a level of dominance over the current iteration of the tournament never seen before. Chelsea popping up to win it twice didn't make them an elite force to be truly reckoned with either time.
That has culminated in a season whereby their campaign is over in April. Last year they were title challengers - albeit outsiders - until February as well as taking Liverpool to penalties in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Last season's Champions League quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid was hard fought.
There have been times, brief periods, in which Chelsea have looked like a well-coached, thoroughly prepared team in the past 24 months but that is no more. They have struggled to maintain those glimpses for more than several months, not the sign of a true global force.
This season the Champions League is the limp end to the most forgettable of years. Given the expectations of the club now compared to the past, it is maybe the worst season in proportion and relativity. That is ultimately unforgivable, especially for a team with a squad purchased for well in advance of £800m.
It won't be without its casualties either. There are, on the face of it, at least 14 players that have realistically played their last Champions League game for the club, and that's being generous because it could be more. It is a state of affairs that sums up the decline of the management of the squad and club as a whole.
On the other hand, perhaps shedding itself of underperforming and overpaid players isn't such a bad way to move on. Kepa Arrizabalaga has never shown himself to be a world-class goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy has fallen out of favour and at 31 may well be moved on over the summer.
Thiago Silva, though a brilliant player, is 38 and would need to be playing at the top level until he is 40 at least to play in this competition again for the Blues. Cesar Azpilicueta has been a true servant to the club but nearly left last summer and has 12 months on his deal; he should be allowed to go before next season.
Kalidou Koulibaly, even with three years on his contract, is unlikely to improve beyond even the slight upturn in performances that had come in the past six weeks. Chelsea may look to move him on quickly.
Into midfield, Mason Mount is expected to leave this summer for a fee before his own deal runs out. For a player that was so crucial to the 2021 side his substitute role against Madrid seems a monumental shame of a way to go out. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another academy graduate that appears to have more value as a homegrown asset than player these days.
He could be helpful but given Chelsea will need to wait at minimum 500 days to play in the competition, and that is if they qualify at the first attempt through the top four, it is far from certain he will be at the club. Mateo Kovacic is in the same boat, he is another that could be on the way out at the end of the season.
Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech perhaps didn't expect themselves to even be playing for Chelsea this season after both came close to leaving in the summer. The Kai Havertz experiment hasn't worked and ties may well be cut for him if a sizable offer came in.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's start to Chelsea life came in the Champions League but was quickly ended after not being picked for the squad in the second half of the season. Callum Hudson-Odoi out on loan hasn't had the time he would have wanted in Germany and could be another let go in the summer.
Joao Felix was signed on loan with the aim of winning the Champions League but he failed to score in the four games he played, being benched for the second leg with Madrid.
That's the main 14 but in realistic terms it could be more. N'Golo Kante, at 31, would need to hold out physically until he is at least 33 before playing in it again at Stamford Bridge while Romelu Lukaku could have played his last game for Chelsea full-stop. A loan turnaround isn't impossible but seems unlikely.
Conor Gallagher, one of the bright sparks from the game on Tuesday, is another that could yet be sold as well.
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