Schalke 04 vs. Chelsea: How the Blues Will Line Up in Champions League

Chelsea travel to Germany to face Schalke 04 in the penultimate game of their Champions League Group G campaign on Tuesday. The Blues are top of the group with eight points and know that a win will secure their progression into the knockout stages.

There is added significance to this tie as the manager in the opposition dugout is the man who guided Chelsea to their 2012 triumph in the competition. Roberto Di Matteo replaced Jens Keller in October, per BBC Sport, and he will be facing his former club for the first time since he was unceremoniously sacked in November 2012.

The appointment of Jose Mourinho has quelled the unrest that followed his dismissal, but the Blues supporters still have a lot of affection for Robbie.

Centre-half Gary Cahill shares the supporters’ sentiments about the former manager but has told the Evening Standard that such feelings will not get in the way of the team’s performance:

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Playing against a team managed by Robbie has added a bit of spice to the game. Everyone is aware what Robbie did at this football club and he is respected for it. He was assistant when I first joined the club (in January 2012) and not too long after he took the manager's job and had great success in that. It was good to learn from the way he manages and he played me in games. It will be good to see him but we are going there to get a result and to play well. We are going there to do a job, regardless of who is there. We know we need to win and get a positive result there after drawing our last game.

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Cahill is likely to start in the heart of defence alongside John Terry. The duo should be in front of Petr Cech, who has been linked with a move away from Chelsea in recent weeks, per Bruce Archer of the Daily Express, after losing his No. 1 spot to Thibaut Courtois. Branislav Ivanovic will start at right-back, with Filipe Luis completing the back four.

Nemanja Matic will start alongside Cesc Fabregas, whose assist for Eden Hazard’s goal against West Bromwich Albion was his 12th of the season. If the Blues are able to close the game down early enough, the Spanish playmaker should make way for Ramires in order to avoid his recent hamstring problem flaring up again—and to give the Brazilian a run-out as he recovers from his own injury problems.

Oscar’s form has picked up after a slow start to the season, and he will start in the No. 10 role on Tuesday. The youngster seems to thrive in the Champions League, having scored the goal of the 2012-13 season in the competition; he will want to continue to impress Mourinho here.

Hazard’s game has taken on a new dimension since he has been relieved of the goalscoring burden, and he should add to his two goals on Tuesday, while Willian is likely to complete the midfield trio.

Diego Costa’s clean bill of health means that he is likely to lead the line despite Didier Drogba’s history in this competition. Although he has been prolific in the Premier League so far, Costa is yet to score in the Champions League and will be looking to put this right on Tuesday.

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A win in Germany would allow Mourinho to give some of the younger players a chance in the final group game, and he will be keen to continue the Blues’ longest-ever unbeaten start to a season. Although the supporters will undoubtedly sing the praises of Di Matteo alongside their own team, The Special One will ignore such sentimentality and focus on securing top spot in the group.

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