Today at 2:45 p.m. ET, FC Basel and Chelsea go head-to-head in UEFA Champions League Group E action live from St. Jakob-Park in Switzerland. The game can be live streamed here.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is hopeful that his team will notch a fourth straight victory to ensure the top spot in Group E ahead of their final encounter with Steaua Bucharest on Dec. 11, but realizes that it has to beat a Basel team that has already beaten it at home.
Mourinho is ready to propel his team into a tough schedule coming up in the next month.
"It's a period I like,'' said Mourinho, according to ESPN. ''It's a period where I think only the braves can survive because it's hard."
Despite the difficulty of the schedule, Mourinho looks forward to the challenge.
"We go into the Christmas period and the accumulation of matches is so high, we don't do it as a normal thing, we do it as a special group with a special mentality, enjoying the situation, forgetting we don't have a Christmas [break] like the Spanish, Italian and German players. We don't have that. But we have the pleasure of playing a period that's only for the braves. I like that very, very much."
Fernando Torres (adductor injury) missed the last three matches but has been deemed fit to return, however defenseman David Luiz (knee) didn't travel with the team.
Juan Mata was the Blues' player of the year the last two seasons, however he's had limited opportunities but will get his chance in December.
''He (Mata) deserves to play but I can't start with more than 11,'' Mourinho told ESPN.
Basel are looking to once again pull out an upset over Chelsea.
"It's clear our first target is third place at the end of this group stage, but we will try to reach second place as well," forward Fabian Frei told ESPN on Monday. "Tomorrow will be a very decisive game for us, but our first target is to get this one point, then we're sure of third position."
Basel looks to continue its dominance of English opposition while Chelsea will look to secure the top spot in Group E when these teams matchup this afternoon.
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