A Disappointing Draw

It's not the end of the world, but Chelsea will be miffed that they failed to take maximum points at home to Schalke in their opening skirmish in the Champions League. Mind you, the Blues lost at home to Basel in the first fixture last year and subsequently proceeded to the semi finals. In fact, sluggish starts to the Champions League are becoming a recurring theme under Mourinho, as we previously only drew 1-1 at home to Rosenborg back in 2007.

On the plus side, it was good to see Cesc Fabregas open his Chelsea account, furnishing the hosts with the interval lead, albeit from a goal that derived from a foul. On the negative side, the Blues failed to hold on to or extend their lead, as they also did previously at home to Atletico Madrid. However, most alarming of all was the misfiring Didier Drogba. It would be erroneous to judge the big lion after one below par performance, but such has been the instant impact of Costa, and even Remy, that the Ivory Coast legend will be left behind if he doesn't shape up sooner rather than later. In fact, it seems apparent that Drogs might be best utilised as an impact substitute while the lively Remy deserves to start, ahead of the wisely rested Costa. Of course we would ideally want to field the red-hot DC, but it would be unwise to burn out our precious commodity too early in the season. Elsewhere, Eden Hazard had another storming display which only lacked a goal. Meanwhile it was right and proper to see Filipe Luis eased into the first team on this occasion. Unfortunately his team mates spurned several chances which meant that his first start was not a winning one. However, one crumb of comfort was the late equaliser of Maribor at home to Sporting Lisbon which leaves complete parity in the group. Ultimately, Jose Mourinho must be careful that his reshuffles on European nights don't result in a runners up position in the group. That would be fatal for our European ambitions.

Final score: CHELSEA 1 FC Schalke 1; half time: 1-0. Wednesday 17th September 2014.

CHELSEA goal scorer: Fabregas

CHELSEA team: Courtois, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Filipe Luis, Matic, Fabregas, Hazard, Ramires, Willian, Drogba. Used substitutes: Oscar, Costa, Remy.