The midway point in the Champions League group stage approaches with Chelsea in mid-Germany. For the first time since 19 May 2012 we return to play in unser pokal in what we might, after the historic win on German soil, reasonably call unser Land. The steel and mining town of Gelsenkirchen may not be the most fragrant rose in Rhine-Westphalia, but it is where Chelsea aim to deliver the kick up the Ruhr that leads to success in Group E.

A surprise home defeat by Basel on Matchday One was followed by emphatic victory in Bucharest. This evening's trip to Schalke will be mirrored in two weeks with the return at Stamford Bridge. By then the shape of the group may have become clearer either way.

This is the most intense period of the season with so far, with title favourites Manchester City visiting on Sunday, a trip across town 48 hours later in the Capital One Cup, then Newcastle away. All crammed in before the second of our heads-to-head with the Bundesliga side on Wednesday 6 November.

The Blues do not have a great record in Germany - Stuttgart 2004 and the 2012 Champions League triumph aside. Yet Jose Mourinho's side are in form and brimming with confidence now that 11 goals in three consecutive wins have secured second spot domestically and in the Champions League group.

Cardiff on Saturday was the second successive match changed by Mourinho's radical tactical switch (neither deemed worthy of proper analysis by the British media). The manager's switch to three at the back and his side's immediate response is less newsworthy than a Chelsea fan taking a 'selfie' with Mourinho.

Surprising, too, that David Marshall's deliberate handball outside the box, denying a possible goalscoring opportunity, was overlooked in favour of Samuel Eto'o's intervention when the goalkeeper dropped the ball for Chelsea's equaliser from Eden Hazard.

The Belgian's second - his fourth of the campaign - was the latest of three wrathful strikes that have scudded under the keeper this season. Leading scorer Oscar, who appears to see the game like one of the characters from The Matrix, takes a more elusive South American route to goal.

Samuel Eto'o became the first striker to hit the net in the league for Chelsea this campaign.

Schalke are riding high in Europe but off the pace domestically. Julian Draxler's brilliant strike at Basel meant two wins, six points and no goals conceded for the Germans who lead Group E by three points.

Teams level on points in the Champions League are separated by head-to-head results first, so the next two results in Gelsenkirchen and west London could have a say in the final standings.

Yet in the Bundesliga Jens Keller's side lie fifth, eight points shy of Leverkusen in third. Their main problem lies in defence. They have the fourth worst record for conceding and a goal difference of -2, the feeblest in the top half and already 17 inferior to that of leaders Bayern.

The evidence was plain to see again on Saturday at struggling Eintracht Braunschweig. The Bundesliga bottom-feeders actually led twice, capitalising both times on poor efforts from Schalke's rearguard to thwart the danger.

Braunschweig's fatal weakness in that area eventually saw them succumb 3-2 to a last-minute winner. Keller will have been concerned by the loss of Marco Hoger to anterior cruciate ligament damage during that match. The influential central midfielder has been ruled out for remainder of the season.

Chelsea and Schalke will hope Steaua take points off Basel over the next two matches. The Swiss have won their last five away games in all competitions but were stumbled 1-0 at home to Schalke in their last time Champions League outing.

- Match preview by chelseafc.com