Chelsea vs. Schalke 04, Champions League: Lineups & Game Thread

Everybody loves a Wednesday night in Europe.  Not only does it mean that you're not playing on Thursday nights, but in the case of Chelsea, it usually means a home win.

Except the last time we played on Wednesday but let's not talk about that.  I think perhaps that was an anomaly that came one game too soon:

#stats It's Wednesday. Great! #Chelsea are W310 (46.62%), D176 (26.47%) & L179 (26.92%) of 665 games played on a Wednesday #cfc

— Chelsea Stats (@ChelseaStats) November 6, 2013

That's right, tonight is Wednesday match #666 in the history of Chelsea Football Club.  Dun-dun-dun!

Also, happy happy happy HAPPY Birthday to André Schürrle who turns 23 today.  And since Schurrle wants everybody to be happy, he will even give YOU a gift of a signed shirt on his birthday.

A big happy birthday to @Andre_Schuerrle, who turns 23 today! Send your birthday wishes using #SchurrleBirthday and you could win a prize!

— Chelsea FC (@chelseafc) November 6, 2013

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Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Petr Cech | Cesar Azpilicueta, John Terry, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic | Ramires, Mikel | Andre Schurrle, Oscar, Willian | Samuel Eto'o

Substitutes from: Mark Schwarzer, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Frank Lampard, Kevin De Bruyne, Juan Mata, Demba Ba

Schalke 04 starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Timo Hildebrand | Dennis Aogo, Joel Matip, Benedikt Höwedes, Atsuto Uchida | Jermaine Jones, Roman Neustädter | Chrisitan Fuchs, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Julian Draxler | Ádám Szalai

Substitutes from: tba

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As expected, Mourinho rings the changes.  Azpilicueta gets another go at left back, while Mikel comes in to replace Lampard in the Mikel role.  Hazard takes a seat for Schürrle, while Willian gets his fifth start for the Blues.  Up top, it's Eto'o with the go'o'o'o'o'o'o'oals.   Hopefully.