Jose Mourinho has revealed that he is delighted to see his Chelsea team seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a group game to spare.
The Blues thrashed Schalke 5-0 in Germany tonight to win Group G and maintain their unbeaten start to the 2014-15 campaign in all competitions.
Victory means that Mourinho can afford to rotate his side in next month's clash with Sporting Lisbon, and the Portuguese says that it is one less match to worry about in a hectic festive period.
"We did it and we did it with one game in advance," he told BBC Sport.
"It is important for us in December, a difficult month, to have one game against Sporting Lisbon where we don't need to win or need the points."
Chelsea, who also sit top of the Premier League table, travel to Sunderland on Saturday.
