They have, admittedly, been hit by an horrendous string of injuries to their frontline players, the latest of which came at the Stoop against the Quins when Richard Whiting was carried off with a broken leg.
They survived some horrendous luck, with injuries to key players such as Petr Cech and John Terry, to push United all the way but the way they play might just have let them down - and I say that as a huge admirer of Chelsea.