Favourable Draw for Chelsea in Champions League

[Jase 43,479]

Chelsea have been drawn to face German side Schalke, FC Basel from Switzerland and Romania’s Steaua Bucharest in Group E of the 2013/14 Champions League group stage after the draw was held in Monaco yesterday. The Blues - tipped 9/1 to win the competition on SkyBet - will be reasonably pleased with a much kinder draw this time around in comparison to last season when they were thrown into the same group as Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Nordsjaelland which saw them finished third in the group. However while Jose Mourinho’s side will be confident in progressing to the knockout stages, he would want to ensure his players to take each game seriously and avoid any complacency and unnecessary slip ups.

Incidentally, all three Chelsea’s group opponents qualified for this stage of the competition through the play-offs. Schalke only just squeezed past Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki 4-3 on aggregate while similarly, Steaua Bucharest defeated Legia Warsaw on the away goals rule following 3-3 draw on aggregate. Only Basel comfortably brushed their opposition from Bulgaria in Ludogorets Razgrad aside 6-2 over two legs. The Blues, moreover, also have had two previous meetings against each of the oppositions in the group.

Chelsea and Schalke last faced each other in the 2007/08 Champions League group stage – the season Mourinho left the club and was replaced Avram Grant. The 2012 European Champions eased past the German club 2-0 at Stamford Bridge before drawing blanks in the return fixture at the Veltins-Arena. Both sides then finished top of their group that season and they will look to do the same again with the head-to-head fixtures looking decisive. Schalke will host the English side in Gelsenkirchen - the venue where Jose Mourinho won this competition with Porto 9 years ago - on Matchday 3 before traveling to Stamford Bridge for the second game on Matchday 4.

FC Basel will be one of the more familiar opponents for Chelsea having just played against one another three months ago in the Europa League semi-final with the Blues then winning 2-1 in Switzerland before easing to a 3-1 success back in London. However, the Swiss side still possesses enough quality to cause an upset as seen two seasons ago when they eliminated Manchester United from the Champions League group stage before going on to beat Bayern Munich in the next round. Chelsea will first host Basel at Stamford Bridge on Matchday 1 before heading to St. Jakob’s Park in the return game on Matchday 5.

Much like Basel, Chelsea will also be familiar with Steaua Bucharest after eliminating them from last season’s Europa League round of 16 back in March. The Blues did however suffer a 1-0 defeat in Romania then before overturning the deficit in West London, winning 3-1. The first group encounter between the two will take place in Bucharest on Matchday 2 and the second on Matchday 6 at Stamford Bridge.

Jose Mourinho will hope to take advantage of the favorable draw and qualified for the Last 16 as early as possible in order to allow him and his side to focus on other competitions.

The full group fixture list and game dates for Chelsea can be seen here.

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[OneMoSalah 8,778]

Should walk this group, no offence to the other teams.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

@, well you've certainly been busy the past couple of days!

[Jase 43,479]

@, well you've certainly been busy the past couple of days!

As a result of someone else being lazy.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

As a result of someone else being lazy.

Too lazy to think of a smart reply to that..

[Cristian Gabriel 8]

you will easily win the first place in this group....good luck!