Jose Mourinho and Chelsea endured yet another major embarrassment as the team was eliminated from the 2015-16 Football League Cup during a penalty shootout against Stoke City.
Look at the Premier League standings and you will see something quite shocking - the reigning English champs reside in 15th place.
That's right, Chelsea, the team that dominated a season ago is now struggling to put together wins. In fact, through seven games, Jose Mourinho's side has only secured two wins.
It has not been a pretty picture and the season is still too early to jump to any conclusions. Yet there are somethings not working this year that were behind the team's title run. Here they are.
The Champions League returns on Tuesday afternoon with the first two round of 16 matches. The competition is arguably one of the most hotly anticipated of the annual soccer season and this is the phase where things get most interesting.
But it has been a long time since we have seen teams play. In fact, the group round ended in December and teams have undoubtedly altered their styles and are in different form. So which teams are now the favorites to lift the European trophy based on current form?
Two thousand fourteen was undoubtedly the year of the Colombian. After the South American shocked the world with deep run in the World Cup, the world took heed of the wealth of talent on the big team. James Rodriguez took center stage for his undeniable heroics, but a number of other major Colombian superstars emerged. Goalie David Ospina got a chance to make his name at Arsenal and if finally reaping rewards after a strong show of patience. Carlos Bacca has had a strong performance in 2014-15 with Sevilla.
Anytime that the idea of best player in the world is brought up the list starts and ends with two names - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. When looking at 2014, picking the top player between Messi and Ronaldo seems like a futile and uninteresting task. So instead, Latin Post.com's David Salazar and Edwin Molina, as part of our Best of Soccer in 2014 feature series, are looking at players not named Ronaldo or Messi, who deserve some credit in 2014.
Chelsea maintains their lead in the English Premier League (EPL) after 1-1 draw against fourth-place Southampton while second-place Manchester City and third-place Manchester United fail to make up ground in the standings. Arsenal managed to creep into the top five with a key victory on the road against West Ham United.
Chelsea celebrated Christmas in victorious manner by defeating West Ham United, 2-0, keeping their lead in the English Premier League (EPL) staying three points ahead of second-place Manchester City and ten points over third-place Manchester United.
Serie A team AC Milan may be looking to return Fernando Torres back to English Premier League (EPL) team Chelsea, who put him on loan over the summer. But Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho may not have space for him, possibly shipping him off to Italian club Napoli.
Manchester City, playing without Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and English Premier League (EPL) leading scorer Sergio Aguero, managed to defy the odds, defeating Series A club AS Roma to advance to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Luis Suarez helped Barcelona beat PSG with an assist to Lionel Messi -- scoring his 75th career Champions League, three ahead of Cristiano Ronald on the all-time scorers list -- and scoring his first goal with the Catalan club since his transfer from Liverpool.
Lionel Messi made history when he scored his 70th and 71st career UEFA Champions League goals helping Barcelona beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-0, helping the Spanish club advance into the Round of 16. Barcelona will be joined by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Ligue 1 champs Paris Saint-Germain and Primeira Liga club Porto in the next phase of the tournament.
Also, Southampton continues their surprising run defeating Hull City while Chelsea maintains their lead in the standings with a win over QPR despite Blues coach Jose Mourinho's disappointment in their play.
Robin van Persies late goal in stoppage time helped Manchester United salvage a point at Old Trafford to eke out a 1-1 draw against English Premier League table leader Chelsea, playing without their lead scorer Diego Costa.
