In case they needed it, the short trip to Crystal Palace will re-focus Chelsea's globe-trotting players on matters at home as the Premier League slips back into gear this weekend after the second international break of the season.
Schalke 04 halted the Chelsea juggernaut when they drew 1-1 in their Champions League Group G opener at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, handing a wake-up call to the London club who had won their first four games of the season.
Chelsea's Diego Costa continued his stunning start to life in the Premier League with a hat-trick in a 4-2 comeback win over Swansea City on Saturday that left champions Manchester City staring up the table after a 2-2 draw at Arsenal.
Andy Carroll scored a eight-minute hat-trick as West Ham United's last London derby at Upton Park ended in a barnstorming 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Saturday -- a result that dented both club's respective ambitions.
Chelsea rode their luck to emerge with a second win in as many English Premier League games on Wednesday after Branislav Ivanovic escaped a red card and then his marker to head them to a 2-1 win over Aston Villa.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Nemanja Matic's header ended Sporting's proud four-year unbeaten home run in Europe as Chelsea seized control of Champions League Group G with a 1-0 victory in Lisbon on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
As Leicester City celebrates its Premier League triumph, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com salutes the man behind it.
'The captain's duty should be to ensure that the plan is enacted the way the coach wants the same to be enacted,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Chelsea were declared the "autumn champions" by coach Jose Mourinho as they maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 win at Anfield on Saturday that kept them four points clear of Southampton at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea icon Frank Lampard scored for Manchester City to end his old club's perfect start to the Premier League season while Leicester City came from 3-1 down to beat Manchester United 5-3 on a remarkable day in the Premier League on Sunday.
Chelsea struck the woodwork twice but could not find a breakthrough in an entertaining 0-0 Champions League draw at Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday that left everything to play for in Group G.
Jose Mourinho's Chelsea turned from domestic whipping boys back to European stalwarts on Wednesday, beating his former club Porto 2-0 to top Champions League Group G.
Ruthless Bayern Munich scored five goals in the first 35 minutes on the way to a 7-1 demolition of AS Roma on Tuesday which bore an uncanny resemblance to Germany's win over Brazil by the same score in the World Cup semi-final.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi equalled the Champions League scoring record of 71 goals when he struck for the second time in the 76th minute of Wednesday's Group F match at Ajax Amsterdam.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
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