Cesar Azpilicueta Talks Chelsea Struggles, Europa League After Everton Defeat

Cesar Azpilicueta has said Chelsea's struggles are frustrating after the Blues were defeated 2-0 at Everton on Sunday. 

The visitors lost after second-half goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson, and Azpilicueta lamented their failure to capitalise on their own chances.

Per the Mirror's David Maddock, he said:

"It is frustrating. It is not the first game where we played very well in the first half and we didn't kill the game and then in the second half are in trouble from the first minute.

"It is difficult to understand how we cannot keep the consistency during the game and in the season as well. We have had a couple of good results but we've had bad results and obviously that scenario puts you in a more difficult position."

Chelsea were well on top in the opening period, but Eden Hazard, Gonzalo Higuain and Pedro did not manage to convert their opportunities. The latter managed to get the ball in the back of the net, but his effort was disallowed for offside.

Everton were much improved in the second half, and Richarlison put the Toffees in front three minutes after the restart with a close-range header.

Marcos Alonso was guilty of wasting another promising chance before he gave away a penalty. Sigurdsson's spot-kick was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga, but the Iceland international was on hand to score the rebound.

Football journalist Dan Levene was not impressed with Chelsea:

The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in their previous Premier League match.

Goal's Nizaar Kinsella detailed their situation in terms of qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League:

Azpilicueta added that while the UEFA Europa League is a route the Blues will pursue, they won't yet give up on qualification through their domestic efforts:

"I don't see just the Europa League as the only way of being in the Champions League because Chelsea's place is not to be sixth in the Premier League, so I cannot accept this.

"The Europa League is a way of going into the Champions League. It is a trophy, and we will play until the end, but we are not in a position in the league where you can say we are not going to reach the Champions League spots.

"It is our job to do it because we could be talking about something different today.

"If we had won the last two games we would be third going into the international break, and we could have said we were already in the Champions League. Obviously with five more points we could have been much better."

A favourable Europa League draw will see Chelsea pitted against Slavia Prague in the quarter-final, and they're on the other side of the draw to the likes of Napoli and Arsenal.

As such, winning the Europa League—which would also see manager Maurizio Sarri deliver a major trophy in his first season at Stamford Bridge—does seem easier than overtaking their domestic rivals to finish in the top four of the Premier League.

The Blues are close enough to the top four not to give up hope of finishing in it, though.

Chelsea face tricky trips to Liverpool, Manchester United and Leicester City in their remaining matches, but they also have winnable fixtures against Cardiff City, West Ham United, Burnley and Watford.

As Azpilicueta noted, the Blues need to be more consistent if they're to end the season strongly, or they'll only slip further behind their rivals in the coming months.