Chelsea face midfield crisis going into their clash with Galatasaray

Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho has a minor midfield crisis going into Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Galatasaray with David Luiz and John Obi Mikel struggling for fitness.

Chelsea go to Turkey on Wednesday in the Champions League round of 16 first leg and Mourinho has admitted he is worried about his midfield options.

With Nemanja Matic ineligible having already appeared for Benfica in the competition, Chelsea would normally field either Mikel or Luiz in the holding role, but Mourinho has suggested he is short on options, with Oscar and Ramires both nursing complaints following the 1-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

Mourinho told reporters: “We have three days, so let’s see.

“With Mikel and David Luiz, I don’t know if they can recover. It’s important we have at least one of them because we don’t have Matic for the Champions League.”

Mourinho also offered updates on both Oscar and Ramires, with the former having come off at half-time after failing to shake off a pre-game complaint, while the latter came on at half-time despite Mourinho’s reluctance to play him due to an injury worry.

He said of Oscar, “It’s not a dangerous one, just a painful one. He said he could cope with the situation, clearly he couldn’t.

“Ramires had a situation similar to Oscar. I tried to protect him and not play him, but the game demanded I play him. Clearly though, he could cope with the situation.”