Jose Mourinho wants his Chelsea side to complete their qualification to the next stage of the Champions League this week.
The Blues, who sit on top of Group G, take on second-placed Schalke in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night and Mourinho is desperate to produce a win over Roberto Di Matteo's outfit which would see the west London club book their spot in the Round of 16.
"We have two matches to do that (qualify for the Champions League knockout stages) but obviously it will be better for us to qualify on Tuesday," Mourinho said.
"We have so many matches in December so it's better if you can qualify and avoid that pressure. Obviously that would be very good for us but the reality is that we need points and we will try and do that tomorrow.
"Going to the Europa League would be very bad, very bad for the team because a team gets better and the evolution gets faster when you play in the best competitions against the best teams.
"I have repeated that to my players already that going into the Europa League is something that would be very disappointing for us."
Chelsea have recorded eight points from four Champions League matches this season including wins over Sporting Lisbon and NK Maribor and draws with Schalke and most recently with Maribor in Slovenia a fortnight ago.
