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Sincil Bank may not carry the same aura as the Allianz Arena or Old Trafford, but for a good while, it looked like this soulful ground might be the latest setting for yet another Chelsea loss.
They lost at Bayern Munich then at Manchester United within the last week, but Lincoln City? This trip to face the League One side was supposed to represent an easy ending to this mini tour of theirs; shooting practice for the Premier League visitors who proudly carry a shiny 'world champions' badge on their fronts.
Instead, Chelsea were the ones played off the park in the first half, well and truly, with Lincoln unfortunate not to have scored more than their single goal through Rob Street.
Chelsea woke up for the second half, scoring through Tyrique George then Facundo Buonanotte, but Enzo Maresca can only have left here concerned by what he witnessed before all that.
Lincoln's record signing is Ivan Varfolomeyev, the 21-year-old Ukrainian who cost £350,000 to bring in from Czech side Slovan Liberec last month. Chelsea's line-up added up to £367.3million, not including a fair few add-ons, while their bench was worth £247.6m.
Credit to Lincoln for the way they tormented the visitors initially. Chelsea have shown a naivety in their defending this season, including at set-pieces in their last two Premier League outings.
In their 2-2 draw at Brentford, they never noticed what their opponents were doing at long throws and eventually conceded the equaliser to one. In the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, Chelsea goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen appeared allergic to coming to try to punch clear the danger, as evidenced when Casemiro scored his side's second goal at Old Trafford.
Lincoln, managed by a former PE teacher in Michael Skubala, noticed those weaknesses in their own homework and tested them under the lights of Sincil Bank.
Whenever they won a throw-in relatively within range of the Chelsea box, they had Tom Hamer wind up his arms. One such scenario after the opening minute saw the ball worked to Lewis Montsma, whose powerful strike came back off the inside of the post.
Alejandro Garnacho, who cost £40m, was fouled three times within the opening 15 minutes with the Argentinian handed his first start here. However, he and Jamie Gittens struggled to impose themselves so much that Maresca eventually had them swap wings.
In the 32nd minute, Jorgensen flapped at an attempted punch, prompting an almighty scramble. Lincoln's opener did arrive in the 42nd after a mistake by Enzo Fernandez, however.
It was Fernandez's risky ball across his own box which saw Trevoh Chalobah beaten to it with Street scoring for a half-time lead which was entirely deserved. Chelsea had not even managed a single shot on target, and Maresca opted against any substitutions at the break.
The Blues boss arguably did not take the Carabao Cup seriously last season, making 11 changes in both of their ties. It worked a treat when they faced Barrow in the third round, winning 5-0, but not when they travelled to Newcastle, where they lost in a 2-0 surrender.
Chelsea finally had their first proper attempt in the 48th minute and it saw George, the academy winger being used as a striker, score a 20-yard cracker which swerved beyond Zach Jeacock. In the 50th, Buonanotte exchanged a one-two with George before showing some twinkletoes in order to make it 2-1. Signed as a deputy to Cole Palmer, who is being given time to overcome his injury issues, the Brighton loanee practically walked it in.
Suddenly, Chelsea's supporters had a reason to sing 'champions of the world'. They had been too embarrassed to do so prior to taking the lead.
