Champions League football returns this mid-week as Chelsea travel to Germany to face Schalke 04.  A win tomorrow & Chelsea will sit comfortably on top the group. A draw won’t hurt either. Without much ado, lets take a look at all the info we need beforehand.
DATE & TIME: October 22, 2013 at 14:45 EDT; October 22, 2013 at 19:45 GMT; October 22, 2013 at 20:45 BST; October 22, 2013 at 20:45 WAT; October 22, 2013 at 21:45 CAT; October 22, 2013 at 22:45 EAT; October 23, 2013 at 00:15 IST.
VENUE: Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
TV/STREAMING NEWS: The match will be telecast live on ESPN3 in Australia, Sky Sport 1/2 in Austria, Al Jazeera Sport HD 3 in African sub-continent, Sportsnet 360 in Canada, Al Jazeera Sport HD3 in Egypt, beIN Sport MAX 4 in France, Sky Sport 1/1 HD/2/2 HD/3 in Germany, Ten HD in India, Sky Calcio 5 in Italy, Sukachan 5 in Japan, Sport 1 Live in Netherlands, Al Jazeera Sport HD3 in UAE, Sky Sports 2/HD in UK and Fox Sports 2 in USA.
Chelsea TV will stream the audio of the game live. It is also available on Ten Sports Live in India & Indian sub-continent, Sky Go UK in UK and Fox Soccer 2 Go in USA.
SCHALKE 04 SQUAD NEWS: Schalke are missing a number of their key first-team players due to injuries, namely, Klass-Jan Huntelaar, Jermaine Jones, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Chinedu Obasi, Marco Hoger, Sead Kolasinac. Jefferson Farfan and Kevin-Prince Boateng are doubtful as well.
Predicted Starting XI: Hildebrand, Uchida, Santana, Howedes, Aogo, Hoger, Neustadter, Clemens, Meyer, Draxler, Slazai.
CHELSEA FC SQUAD NEWS: Marco van Ginkel is the long-term absentee. Ashley Cole, recovering from rib injury, has been left behind in Cobham as well. Andre Schuerrle, now fit, has travelled to Germany with the squad. Mourinho has confirmed John Terry will start.
Predicted Staring XI: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Bertrand, Mikel, Ramires, Schuerrle, Oscar, Hazard, Torres.
REFEREE: Viktor Kassai(Hungary).
TACTICAL OVERVIEW: Schalke 04 play a 4-2-3-1 formation similar to the Blues. They line-up with two banks of four while on the defensive and mostly direct their counter through their wingbacks while transitioning to attack. As usual, Sherry has discussed Schalke’s formation & tactics in his scouting report. In absence of Huntelaar & with a doubt hovering over Kevin-Prince Boateng’s fitness, Draxler has to be the player Chelsea has to look out for. Schalke’s primary attacking threat, Draxler’s abilities with the ball are well-renowned and Ivanovic(or Azpilicueta, who is unlikely to start) must keep a check on the German.
FUN TRIVIA:

• The last time both teams met were in 2007, when the corresponding tie ended goalless and Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners at The Bridge.
• Chelsea’s overall record against Bundesliga opponents is W7 D4 L4.
• Schalke 04 are yet to concede a goal in this season’s UEFA Champions League.

IN A NUTSHELL: Chelsea didn’t have a promising start to the UEFA Champions League campaign with a loss at home to Basel. However, the win against Steaua Bucharest has provided the Blues a little bit of comfort. Chelsea need to avoid a loss and should look out for a win, in order to avoid too many permutations & combinations in the forthcoming matchdays. Jose Mourinho has said it’s not yet time to worry about the points in order to take off some pressure from the lads, while Schalke 04 manager, Jens Keller has maintained he’d be happy with a draw. Schalke are at their weakest because of the injury concerns to their key players, so this tie presents the perfect opportunity for Chelsea to go for the kill.