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.

Ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports: "It's shocking and it comes from the top, that's where it starts from. There were five or six really top players on that pitch today and they've been beaten by Nottingham Forest's B team.

"If you think less than 12 months ago [Chelsea] were taking PSG to the cleaners. There's no connection between the players and the staff, the players and the supporters.

"There's absolutely nothing there and it looks like a broken football club right now."

Former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer added on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Chelsea are running out of excuses now.

"Chelsea did not look like a side who have something so big [the FA Cup final] on the horizon and that is what is so disappointing.

"They were outfought and there was a lack of desire. The players have to start taking responsibility."

Qualifying for the Champions League was always the target for owners BlueCo this season, so how costly could missing out prove?