The Blues had surprisingly lost their Champions League opener at home to Basel 1-2, but have subsequently recovered and recorded back-to-back wins against Steaua Bucharest and Schalke to go top of their qualifying group.

Chelsea and Schalke both have the same number of points (6) but Chelsea are in pole position due to a better head-to-head record against Schalke. A defeat last night would have condemned the London club to third in the group but, as it stands, they look odds-on to qualify with three group games left to play.

According to Yahoo! Eurosport, the ‘Special One’ is now targeting first position in the group after overcoming their ‘garbage’ loss to Basel on Matchday 1. He said, “After the first game we were last, because we lost at home, and now we are top of the group. Because of my experience I was not in hell after the first game and I’m not in heaven today. I’m calm.”

“I know we have two matches at home (to come) and I know normally we are going to get enough points to qualify. In this moment, after six points, we can think first about qualifying, but after that, maybe, we can also think about finishing first in the group. That is what we are going to try (to do).”

“We were under pressure after the first game, after the second game we found a balance and today, after this victory, we are in a good situation.”

It was the first time Mourinho won against a German team in Germany with any club, although it was in Germany as a neutral place when Mourinho’s Porto won the Champions League against Monaco in the 2004 Champions League final.

He said, “I knew that if somebody asked me, (they) only ask about half of the record. The record is always defeat in Germany, and I never lost at home against a German team.”

The former Real Madrid manager was really delighted with the performances of his players and was notably gushing about their qualities. He chose to start Torres ahead of Eto’o and the Spaniard didn’t let him down with two fine strikes.

Mourinho said, “What boosts him is the confidence he knows I have in him. Samuel played a very good game against Cardiff and scored the winning goal. I thought Fernando was adapted to this game. I put faith in him and he answered well. It’s good for him, it’s a good feeling to score goals, winning goals in the Champions League.”

He reserved special praise for his defence as well as Ramires and Frank Lampard, who were deployed in midfield. He said, “Everything started with the way we defended. My goalkeeper, my four defenders and Rami and Lampard, they gave us fantastic stability.”

“We had a difficult period in the first half, which a team always has, and in that period, the last 10, 15 minutes of the first half Schalke were really dominant. After that we were compact, we were solid. We controlled the game, we were always dangerous. My team deserved the points.”