Jose Mourinho knows his squad better than anyone and emphasised that Chelsea showed their true quality against Schalke on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, after handing the latter a 3-0 shellacking.

The Portuguese boss described their performance against Basel as "garbage" on which they needed to bounce back from.

"It was an important victory for us. I told the players after the Basel match that the performance was garbage and we had to correct it - and we have with two consecutive victories away from home," Mourinho told uefa.com.

While it's too early to predict fortunes, Mourinho is confident that the Blues will finish on top of their group, heading into the final 16.

"Now we are in good condition to qualify and we can think about finishing first in the group," he added.

He was all praises for Spanish striker Fernando Torres who came up with a good performance by scoring 2 goals, which could be a hint that Torres is the favoured striker despite his inconsistent form.

"Fernando [Torres] played very well today. He's a hard worker. He's not the kind of guy to hide behind the fee that Chelsea paid for him," he said.

"Even when he's not performing very well, he always maintains his professionalism. And since I've arrived, he's always been positive. He's a player I respect and trust."

Meanwhile, Schalke boss Jens Keller believes that the result did not entirely reflect what really happened during the game as fatigue has set in on his players as the game progressed.

"It was very unfortunate to concede the first goal from a set piece. Nonetheless, we tried to get back into the game and created a few chances of our own," said Keller.

"We conceded two counterattacks in the second half which Chelsea executed perfectly."

"However, the result doesn't reflect the run of the game. Towards the end of the match it was noticeable that some of our players were starting to tire."

"That obviously makes it even more difficult to try and launch a comeback against a team like Chelsea."

RELATED STORIES