Chelsea appears to be back to their lethal best after they demolished Athletico Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League last night. Two goals from Solomon Kalou, one from Frank Lampard and one own goal all led to another three points as Chelsea strive to win the competition that has eluded them since Roman Abramovich’s arrival.

Chelsea never looked threatened against a very talented attacking side. There are a number of players in the Madrid team that could have created big problems but John Terry seemed to be in perfect form and snuffed out all signs of danger instantly.

Manager, Carlo Ancelotti, said: “We did better at the set plays. It was very important to keep our concentration at the set plays — and we scored twice from them as well.”

“Maybe the first half was more difficult than the second, but after our first goal we had a good match. We had good attacking, a good transition. Nine points is good. I think we are in control of the group now, but our aim is still to go for first place.”

“I am happy for him [Lampard]. He is important because he works 90 minutes on the pitch for the team. He is a very generous, unselfish player. And if he scores a goal, it is better.”

The problem that seems to have plagued Chelsea in the last one or two seasons is their inconsistency. This had provided gaps and windows of opportunity for rivals to pounce on and is the reason they have fell short of Manchester United in the last two campaigns.

Chelsea are a big club that need to be winning trophies on a regular basis. If they carry on playing in this efficient manner then they should be in with a good shout on all fronts by the end of the season.

The problem is that better teams are going to exploit their weaknesses in a way that Madrid could not. Set plays are just a single part of the game but at times last night they gave too much space and time that will be used a lot better by teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Ancelotti will be grateful for the points but he knows better than anyone that there is always work to do and he will not be happy until his team has won 4-0 in every game they have played over the course of a month.