Blues rout gives Jose confidence
Ramires scored twice with a Daniel Georgievski own goal and a late Frank Lampard strike sealing a win that could have been even more emphatic.
It meant Chelsea immediately bounced back from their shock 2-1 opening defeat to Basle at Stamford Bridge, which had created some early pressure.
But after a dominant display, when an apparent knee injury to Fernando Torres was the only sour note, Mourinho is now certain his side will go on to progress from the group.
“I think we are going to qualify,” he said afterwards.
“Today’s result is important because if we don’t win we are under pressure.
“We have to control the situation and make points against Schalke and then beat Basle and Steaua.”
Mourinho was full of praise for his side with winger Andre Schurrle producing his best performance since his summer move from Bayer Leverkusen.
“The result is very good. The points and the goals also,” he said.
“From the first minute it was very good. From the first minute we kept control of game. We played good football with intelligence and maturity.
“We needed to clean what we did at home (against Basle) and we did it with a good result and performance.
“Now we are not in a dramatic situation, we are in a close situation.”
Mourinho said he hoped Torres’ injury was not a bad one, after already losing Marco van Ginkel to a long-term knee complaint. The Spaniard will have a scan today todetermine the extent of the injury.
Torres, who received a Football Association disciplinary reprieve earlier in the day following his altercation with Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen at the weekend, started for a third successive game but lasted just 11 minutes before being substituted.
His replacement, Samuel Eto’o, had a role in the opening goal, weakly helping on Andre Schurrle’s cross for Ramires to prod the ball home after 20 minutes.
A strong run from Eto’o just before the break, following Juan Mata’s incisive pass, then saw the hapless Daniel Georgievski divert the ball into his own net to give the visitors a 2-0 half-time lead.
A roof covered the pitch from the incessant torrential rain, but Steaua were struggling to protect themselves from wave after wave of Chelsea attacks.
Ramires, who was excellent throughout, notched his third goal in three games after finishing off a flowing move for his second of the night and Chelsea’s third and Lampard netted a fourth in stoppage time.
Mata, who hit the post in the second half, fully justified his inclusion and Andre Schurrle was a constant menace, but encountered little resistance from his opposite number Georgievski.
Chelsea were home and – in a city where the rain has fallen since their arrival — dry, but showed signs of fragility as the game wore on.
Cech saved from Stanciu, who blasted the rebound over, and Lampard blocked from Lucian Filip.
Chelsea now play Schalke twice, the first contest away in Gelsenkirchen in three weeks’ time, and will be confident of making further inroads on the group there.
Tatarusanu, Georgievski (Varela 71), Szukala, Gardos, Latovlevici, Bourceanu, Filip, Popa (Tatu 46), Stanciu, Tanase, Piovaccari (Kapetanos 46).
Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, Cole, Oscar (Azpilicueta 78), Ramires, Lampard, Mata (Willian 80), Torres (Eto’o 11), Schurrle.
Carlos Velasco Carballo (Madrid).
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