German coach Joachim Low has criticized Chelsea’s treatment of German captain Michael Ballack. The 31 year old midfielder has been left out of the Blues Champions League squad for the group stages which run until January. While Chelsea cite the players ongoing injury as the reason, Ballack and Germany believe that the players return to fitness will be much quicker than anticipated.

The move by Jose Mourinho has raised speculation regarding the future of the star. The German team are expecting Ballack to fixture in their game in October so it is uncertain why Chelsea would rule him out of UEFA Champions League action until at least January. If Ballack is fit for Germany’s game against Republic of Ireland on 13^th October then he would have only missed 2 of Chelsea’s Champions League games up until that date.