Chelsea started quickly at the Veltins-Arena with some intricate play threading Diego Costa through one-on-one with Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann, who saved well with his trailing leg resulting in a corner. The following corner was floated in and met by the head of John Terry, who headed a challenging header straight into the top corner with just 2 minutes gone on the clock. Branislav Ivanovic had the chance to make it 2-0 to Chelsea 5 minutes later, however his volleyed-effort flew over the bar. Chelsea looked very much the dominant team which we have seen so many times this season in all competitions.
Schalke had to be wary of Chelsea not only when Chelsea were attacking, but when they themselves were in possession as Chelsea's pace going forward on the counter-attack was very threatening to the Schalke defense. This was evident early on, as a counter-attack led to another Costa shot on goal which was blocked well.
As the game progressed, it was clear that Schalke were targetting to attack down Chelsea's left. This may have been due to Di Matteo's knowledge of Chelsea from when he was in charge of the side, knowing full well that Hazard is less willing to track back than someone like Willian and that Azpilicueta being naturally right-footed may not deal with a vast amount of pressure well due to playing on the left. However, Mourinho caught onto this and instructed Hazard and Willian to start interchanging on which side they play.
The sensational play of Chelsea continued throughout the half, the way they controlled the game was unbelievable as they seemed to be able to change the pace of the game whenever they wished. This was well shown when in the 31st minute a swift Chelsea attack full of short passes came out of nowhere and was finished off by a powerful Willian strike which crept underneath Fährmann's hand into the back of the net. In fact, the move which featured mainly Eden Hazard and Willian's interplay was so impressive that a Schalke fan was captured clapping the goal magnanimously.
Out of the two sides, Chelsea definitely looked the stronger of the two, despite the exact same eleven starting on Saturday against West Brom in addition to starting this game. Mourinho's mind games in the press earlier this week seemed to have fooled many, with Chelsea looking the strongest they have all season. It's also possible that his comments on his side possibly losing the two final group games and playing in the Europa League may have sparked a reaction from his players, due to their average performance away against Maribor in their last champions league game, where they were far from clincial.
The Schalke fans started to get against their team, with their performance being so poor, unfortunately for Schalke this just made things worse as they looked even more anxious on the ball. This resulted in a poor backpass by Brazilian Felipe Santana, which was intercepted by Costa as he took it around the keeper, looking for his first Champions League goal for Chelsea, he then proceeded to slip which allowed Santana to retreat and concede a corner.
2 minutes later, more fantastic play by the Chelsea midfield ended with a delicate chip by Cesc Fabregas which split the Schalke defenders and was met with an acorbatic volley by Oscar which produced another save out of Fährmann and resulted in yet another Chelsea corner. The corner was whipped in dangerously by Fabregas and headed in by Jan Kirchhoff in the wrong net for his side, putting Chelsea 3-0 up.
At the half-time interval it looked clear that Schalke would need a miracle to comeback and earn anything against this exceptional Chelsea side.
Chelsea didn't look like they were settling for a 3-0 win, as they looked to score 2 minutes into the second half. Costa's brilliant work ethic won himself the ball off of Felipe Santana who managed to recover and make a last ditch tackle timed to perfection, to stop Costa who looked set to put his side 4-0 up.
The threatening Chelsea attacks didn't come to a halt. They came close twice in only the next 4 minutes, as two well-worked attacks were prevented at the last second by some efficient German defending.
The tables turned slightly in the next few minutes as Schalke enjoyed long periods of possession, which created a half-chance in a Christian Clemens shot that was blocked typically by John Terry.
On the other hand, Chelsea still remained dangerous on the attack. Willian looked isolated on the ball in the Schalke penalty box, but managed to pick out Ivanovic with a tremendous pass who hit the ball on the volley first-time with real venom which went over the top corner of the goal by centimetres. If the ball flew into the top corner, we definitely would have had a contender for goal of the season on our hands and it would have typified the quality of Chelsea's play in this game.
Chelsea truly put the game to bed in two minutes as Ivanovic looked for Willian and Drogba, who both timed their runs to perfection, and Willian went in one-on-one with the keeper and squared it to Drogba who finished his chance calmly into the open goal. Within 1 minute of the restart Chelsea were on the attack again, as Drogba was found in the box who crossed sublimely to Ramires who headed the ball in from close range. Chelsea's two subs playing important roles in two goals within two minutes of each other.
Eden Hazard had the chance to make it 6-0 in the last minute, but was denied by a good save from Fährmann, thanks to him it could have been more than 5. Chelsea's breathtaking win made it a night which former manager and club legend Roberto Di Matteo will want to forget in a hurry.
With this emphatic win, Chelsea qualified as group winners which will benefit them with a more favourable draw. Schalke can still qualify as runners-up if results of the final group games go in their favour. Chelsea will look to take this tremendous momentum to the Premier League as they face a trip to Sunderland on Saturday evening.