Preview: Mourinho looking for a positive response after defeat to Basel
The Blues lost their opening match to Basel, courtesy of late goals from Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller as the Swiss outfit stunned the English giants cruising to a 2-1 victory.
Steaua Bucharest themselves will be looking for their first points of the European campaign after being at the receiving end of a 3-0 mauling at the hands of German side Schalke 04.
Spanish star Juan Mata who had so far been a mere bench warmer under new coach Jose Mourinho has now started to feature more regularly. After playing 90 minutes in the league encounter against Swindon Town, the Spanish playmaker then featured for 45 minute against Tottenham on Saturday, a match in which he put up an impressive showing setting up the equaliser for John Terry.
His coach has been impressed with Mata’s recent form and the Portuguese tactician has hinted that the 25 year old will be featuring for the Blues more often from now onwards starting with the Champions League tie against Steaua Bucharest.
"This is the way players have to tell me they want to be in my team," Mourinho said according to ESPN
"I sometimes make a mistake as a manager, but I make my decisions on what I see in training and on the pitch. I liked what Mata did against Swindon in the Capital One Cup and I put him on the bench today.
"Now I like what I see when he plays for 45 minutes. I'm a very happy manager when I see Juan Mata playing like this. I can tell you now that he will play against Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League on Tuesday - he deserves that chance. I want my players to tell me they want to play. Juan told me that."
After a rather dull showing against Tottenham which saw the visitors scramble a draw against their London rivals, there might be changes in the starting line-up but Fernando Torres who was red carded in that much is likely to start after impressing for the Blues.
Mourinho’s only injury concern is Chelsea’s summer acquisition Marco van Ginkel who is ruled out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.
Steaua coach Laurențiu Reghecampf has an almost fully fit squad at his expense but will be without the services of Stefan Nikolic and Alexandru Chipciu.
The two clubs last met during Chelsea’s successful Europa League run last season, when the Blues squared off against the Romanian giants in the second knockout round. Chelsea lost the away match but made amends in the reverse fixture winning the match 3-1 at home.
Both of Steaua’s scorers in that tie are no longer at the club with Raul Rusescu having sealed a move to Sevilla and Vlad Chiriches electing to join Tottenham in the summer.
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, Live scores
Watch Steaua Bucharest v Chelsea live on Tuesday, October 1, 2013:
In Canada at 14:45 EDT on Sportsnet 360
In UK at 19:45 BST on Sky Go, Sky Sports 4/HD
In USA at 14:45 ET on SiriusXM FC, Fox Soccer 2Go, Fox Sports 2
Fans in other parts of the world can watch the match live on their local channels. Those in the Middle East can watch the match live on Al Jazeera Sport +3.
For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit Steaua Bucharest v Chelsea match page.
