Dynamo Kiev vs Chelsea @ NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kiev
Tuesday October 20 @ 7.45pm
A 2-0 win against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Saturday has lifted the mood around Chelsea and put their odds of winning back on track, in the lead up to their Champions League group game match with Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kiev.
A first-half strike from Diego Costa and an Alan Hutton own goal were enough to see off the Midlands side, but the game was not short in talking points.
Young midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek started ahead of Nemanja Matic but was replaced by the Serbian at half-time.
Meanwhile Eden Hazard, the reigning Footballer of the Year, was dropped with his manager citing defensive solidity as his reason for omitting the Belgian.
Jose Mourinho was asked about his star man’s attitude ahead of Tuesday night’s game.
“How has he trained? He has trained like Eden,” said the 52-year-old.
Pedro and Loic Remy both picked up injuries and have not travelled with the matchday squad so Hazard will likely start in Kiev.
Mourinho, though, is focussed on winning games as his side aim to improve on their defeat to Porto in their last outing and put a good run together ahead of a period that sees Chelsea play six away games in their next nine.
He said: “We need to win matches in the Premier League to improve our position and we need to win points in the Champions League to qualify.
“We know how football is. We have had too many bad results and hopefully now we can move in the right direction.”
Dynamo Kiev should prove a tough test thanks in part to their impressive home record, they have lost only one game in ten at home in European competitions.
They did lose 3-0 at home to their domestic rivals Shakhtar Donetsk on Friday, relinquishing top-spot of the table to them in the process, yet that was their first loss in a competitive home match since April 2014.
Chelsea will be back in Premier League action on Saturday away at West Ham.
