Chelsea handed Champions League reprieve - Blues must capitalise on triple Bournemouth, Forest & Man City favour | OneFootball

The race for Champions League qualification is heating up and Chelsea have been slightly let off following their late 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa.

Back-to-back defeats in the Premier League could have dealt Chelsea a serious blow in their bid to qualify for next season's Champions League, however they've been given a second chance to get their campaign back on track.

After losing to Brighton and Villa, Enzo Maresca's side have allowed other sides to catch them up in the table, whilst seeing Liverpool and Arsenal continuing racking up points to extend the gap out front.

Marco Asensio's brace, including his 90th minute winner, was difficult to take and it was shown come full-time when Enzo Fernandez, scorer of Chelsea's opener on Saturday evening, was captured visibly frustrated and upset.

Maresca validated the Argentine's emotions after admitting it was the 'toughest defeat of the season' given the 'very good' performance from the visitors.

Fernandez tapping in from close range against Aston Villa to give Chelsea an early lead. / IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

However, Chelsea have been handed a lifeline by AFC Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City. All three are in the mix for a Champions League qualification spot, with England likely to get five spots next season.

Bournemouth suffered defeat to Wolves, Nottingham Forest lost narrowly away to Newcastle, while Man City were beaten by league leaders Liverpool on Sunday evening at the Etihad.

As a result, it sees Chelsea still in seventh place and only one point behind Man City and Newcastle in fourth and fifth respectively and four points behind Forest in third. Maresca's Blues are also only three points ahead of Brighton who are in ninth, highlighting how close the current standings are.

But with home matches against relegation threatened Southampton and Leicester City to come in their next two league fixtures, Chelsea have an excellent opportunity to regain some confidence heading into a challenging, but crucial, March and April as they eye a return to Europe's elite club competition.

"I have a feeling in this moment that we need to win a game to go again," reflected Maresca, who tried to find the positives. "But now, the good thing (is) in two or three days we have one more game at home and hopefully we can finally, with our fans in our stadium, try to get the three points and from there, start again and try to go again."