Jose Mourinho to wield the axe for Chelsea’s Champions League opener

It looks like Jose Mourinho's hair isn't the only thing getting chopped around Stamford Bridge.

The newly crew-cutted manager is poised to leave out four first-team regulars for Maccabi Tel-Aviv's Champions League visit, including captain John Terry. Terry has been part of a back four that has failed to keep a single clean sheet all season, and he could find himself on the sidelines along with right-back Branislav Ivanovic. The Daily Mirror report that last season's top scorer Diego Costa will also be left out after scoring just once in his opening five matches, while midfielder Nemanja Matic will also miss out despite his stunning strike against Everton. New signing Baba Rahman is poised to make his Chelsea debut, while forgotten man Loic Remy may also be included in the starting line-up, but Papy Djilobodji is unavailable after being excluded from the club's Champions League squad. On paper, Maccabi are the weakest team in a group also containing Porto and Dynamo Kiev, so it is unclear whether Mourinho would consider himself to be dropping or simply resting the players.