Jose Mourinho has warned his in-form Chelsea stars that they must see off Schalke tonight and ensure they do not end up in the Europa League come the new year.

The Blues sit top of the Barclays Premier League after 12 games and are unbeaten so far this season across all competitions.

A Champions League victory over Schalke in Gelsenkirchen will see Mourinho's side qualify from Group G in a game that takes on extra significance as the German side are now coached by former Chelsea player and manager Roberto Di Matteo - the only man to deliver the European Cup to Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho has won the competition with Porto and Inter Milan but has been unable to lead Chelsea to the crown in either of his two spells in west London and he was in no mood to talk about Di Matteo's achievements in his press conference.

Instead he insisted his side must not take their foot off the gas and believe they are cruising into the knockout stages.

"I am not here to speak about Roberto Di Matteo, I am here to speak about the game tomorrow," Mourinho said.

"The reality is we need points. I think this team is one state of its evolution where to go into the Europa League would be very bad. A team gets better and the evolution is faster when you play in the best competition against the best teams."