Jose Mourinho has sent a barbed message to two former Chelsea bosses, saying that Roberto Di Matteo and Rafael Benitez won the Champions League in 'the worst season'.

Mourinho comes head to head with Di Matteo on Tuesday night, as his Chelsea side face the Italian's new club Schalke in Gelsenkirchen, in a crucial Champions League qualifier.

Di Matteo is still lauded by fans at Stamford Bridge, for the fairytale way he won the competition as caretaker boss.

But Mourinho says, like Benitez when he was at Liverpool in 2005, winning the competition while sacrificing a decent league place devalues the achievement.

“You can win the CL in the worst season,” said Mourinho.

“You can finish fifth and win the CL. Right. Liverpool did and Chelsea too [Chelsea actually finished sixth].

“So (with) the Champions League, you can not say this is the direction I want to go because I have won that competition.

Champions: Chelsea's players celebrate winning the trophy in 2012

“A knockout competition is something that always has a big percentage of unpredictability.

“I can do nothing to win it. I can only work to improve my team all the time, make a very good team like we are doing.

“Me working on the pitch, the club board working at other levels to make a great team like we did in 2004, 2005, 2006.

“And end with that Champions League. But there is nothing we can do.”

Chelsea have a week of intense travel, with their trip to Germany to be followed by an evening kick off in Sunderland on Saturday.

Keep up to date with all the build-up, matchday and post-game reaction to Schalke v Chelsea right here on GetWestLondon