Chelsea qualified to the knockout stages of the Champions League despite suffering a shocking 1-0 defeat to Swiss side FC Basel on tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League game. The goal came from Mohamed Salah late in the 87th min of game to complete the double over the English giants.
Mourinho made a only one change to the side that won at West Ham in the Premier League with Willian starting ahead of Eden Hazard who then later came on in the second half. The big surprise was opting to leave the returning Fernando Torres on the bench, alternatively giving Samuel Eto’o the nod.
FC Basel were very dominant, particularly in the first half but Goalkeeper Petr Cech produced a string of outstanding saves to keep Chelsea in the game.
Chelsea went to sleep in the defence when a long ball spotted Egyptian Salah who broke down the left side before sliding the ball past Cech into the net with only 3 minutes to go.
Jose Mourinho said after the game: “A bad performance, a deserved defeat. But because of other results, we qualify. That is the only positive thing from this night. I did not like anything from the first minute. We started with a defensive mistake. The team only had a bit of stability and control in the second half. I felt the team was tired, they paid the price of the international break and a crucial match against West Ham. There was no reaction from the players, and wrong decisions. I am not sad with them, as I understand they were not fresh.”
Chelsea lead Group E with 9 points from five games and are through to the last 16 with Basel 2nd on 8 points and Schalke third on seven points after drawing 0-0 with bottom club Steaua Bucharesti.
Schalke host Basel in their final game on December 11th in a match that will decide who else goes through in the group.
@MartinsChokoe
