Well, you cannot fault the entertainment. On another breathless evening for Frank Lampard’s young Chelsea team they fell behind, went in front, saved a penalty, conceded a freak equaliser and by the end were clinging on against a Valencia side that somehow contrived to miss a series of embarrassing sitters.
No wonder Lampard said that “it could have been 5-5 or 6-6”.
Ultimately it means that Group H will remain live going into the final set fixtures on Tuesday week, where they must beat Lille at Stamford Bridge to reach the round of 16 or else rely on the result between Ajax and Valencia to fall their way.
On all the evidence we have seen so far what on paper looks like the group’s least daunting fixture promises to be another spin on the rollercoaster.
Twenty four hours before this game Lampard had spoken about it being a match that Chelsea must not lose. It was, the head coach said, effectively a knockout tie – the biggest game of the season so far and for some of his young players the most important of their careers.
They achieved the primary goal and yet they will perhaps fly back to London later tonight confused by what really happened here. Is it fair to say that they were lucky to draw a game that they also could have won?
“It was a very unusual match because of the amount of good opportunities for both teams,” Lampard said. “We have to be happy with the draw because we gave away too many opportunities.
“Valencia are a good team and we should be better defensively than we were today. I am happy with the result, it was a really tough match."
Chelsea had no problems creating in an open game that risked being spoiled by the officious German referee Felix Zwayer, but a much-changed defence was also too open and Kepa’s performance was questionable.
The Spain goalkeeper may have brilliantly saved Dani Parejo’s spot kick, conceded by Jorginho for a foul on Jose Gaya, but his distribution was again shaky and his efforts to keep out both goals could have been firmer.
In addition, they were fortunate that Maxi Gomez somehow fell over himself with only the goalkeeper to beat when the game was still scoreless and Rodrigo inexplicably sent a simple chance in the sixth minute of added time wide from four yards out.
It often seems like Chelsea are a team that needs to face some adversity to play at their best and even then it is more often than not a show of organised chaos.
Within a minute of Carlos Soler's opener, which Kepa got a hand to but could not divert away from the bottom left corner, Chelsea had equalised through the most unlikely of sources, Mateo Kovacic finding the net for the first time since January 2017.
When Christian Pulisic’s effort early in the second half was finally given the VAR seal of approval following a three-minute check, it looked like another memorable away win was on the cards.
But Valencia, facing a similar level of jeopardy, built up another head of steam and a relentless back and forth ensued. Daniel Wass’s equaliser was a freak cross that looped in at the far corner but Kepa may have been better positioned to keep it out.
From there the hosts fashioned several good chances in search of a winner while Chelsea continued to bomb forward whenever they could.
It was exhausting to watch, nevermind play. By the end Kurt Zoma was on the deck, Michy Batshuayi was gasping for air and even N’Golo Kante had stopped running.
Most of those inside the ground were struggling to come to terms with what they had witnessed but Chelsea’s path to the knockout rounds is clear. Let’s see if they can do it this time without putting everyone through the wringer.
