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A Chelsea win in Germany on Tuesday night will cement the top spot in the Champions League Group G with one match to go.
The group leaders travel to Gelsenkirchen with a three-point lead on the German side who bounced back from a poor start to the Bundesliga season with an impressive win against Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Former Blues manager Roberto Di Matteo knows all about the expectations of leading Chelsea to the Champions League crown, but on Tuesday night he will look to beat his former side.
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Chelsea team news
Playing away in Europe is never easy but with a near injury free squad, Jose Mourinho will be confident to get a result.
Only Nathan Ake, who sat out in the 2-0 win at home to West Brom at the weekend, is missing, meaning the Portuguese manager can field a full-strength team in Germany.
The reality is we need points and we are going to try to do it tomorrow but if we don’t, we have the last game against Sporting to try and stay in the competition.
In the win against West Brom three days ago, Chelsea clearly had one eye on the Champions League tie in the second half.
With 2-0 at half time and one man extra, seeing the win through was more important than going for a third, fourth and fifth goal.
That is helpful ahead of the cruncher in Germany on Tuesday night.
Schalke team news
Jens Keller was the Schalke manager when the teams met in London back in September. Now Di Matteo has had six weeks at the helmet at the club, and it’s starting to bear fruits.
On Saturday, they beat second-placed Wolfsburg to rocket up the Bundesliga table to seventh. In Champions League Group G, they are three points behind leaders Chelsea.
Sead Kolasinac, Julian Draxler, Jefferson Farfan and Chinedu Obasi all sit out with injuries, while Sidney Sam and Fabian Giefer are doubtful.
A win will take Schalke level on points with Chelsea ahead of the last fixture in December while defeat will pile the pressure on former Blue Di Matteo. Mourinho knows all too well how to grind out a result when it’s needed, so we are going for a 1-0 win in Germany.
What is your prediction?
