Chelsea fans, staff and players alike will welcome Chelsea legend Didier Drogba back to Stamford Bridge when they look to progress on their 1-1 aggregate scoreline against Galatasaray.
Venue: Stamford Bridge Date: Tuesday, March 18 Kick-off: 19:45 GMT On TV: ITV1/HD
The Ivorian striker has not yet returned to Stamford Bridge as an opponent since he famously won Chelsea the Champions League with the final kick of his Blues’ career.
However, emotional attachments will be left aside, for 90 minutes at least, as both sides look to build and progress on the 1-1 draw obtained in Istanbul.
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres gave Chelsea the lead in Turkey before a second half equaliser from Chedjou turned Tuesday night’s affair into a very tense and important one.
A place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s biggest competition is at stake with teams such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona and PSG awaiting the teams who progress.
English neutrals will be relying on Chelsea and their rivals of recent times Manchester United to represent the country in the next round. The latter have a home tie to attempt to overcome a 2-0 aggregate deficit against Olympiakos.
Chelsea will have the added pressure of being favourites, particularly having the second leg at home and an away goal to build on. A goal for the Turkish champions however, and Chelsea will need one just to take the game to an extra 30 minutes.
Chelsea’s title hopes suffered a dent on Saturday evening with the defeat at Villa Park, so Mourinho’s men will be looking to progress on Tuesday to remain in contention for as many competitions as possible.
All Chelsea’s title rivals, however, will take no further part in Europe’s elite competition, meaning they have the luxury of focusing solely on the Premier League.
However, if you know Mourinho like any Chelsea fan does, you’d know he is desperate to stay in any competition possible, regardless of any consequences it may bring.
Chelsea’s formidable home record under Mourinho, albeit not perfect in Europe should pose a real threat to a Galatasaray team who have won just four away games this season having played 19.
Chelsea received a boost ahead of Tuesday’s crunch clash with David Luiz and Samuel Eto’o both partaking in training today (Monday).
However Ashley Cole, who has been an outcast under Mourinho this season and missed the tripped to Villa on Saturday, missed the training session on Monday morning.
Fernando Torres had been said to have targeted Tuesday’s game for a return from injury, however the Spaniard played in that defeat at Villa park. This would point towards Samuel Eto’o getting the nod up-front.
Chelsea will be without their imposing Serb Nemanja Matic in the centre of their midfield with him being cup-tied. Mo Salah finds himself in the same situation.
Chelsea have no fresh injury worries from Saturday which means we can expect to see the now ‘default’ defence with Hazard, Oscar and Willian likely to line up behind the striker.
This is Chelsea’s first knockout game at Stamford Bridge since Roberto Di Matteo’s side defeated the might of Barcelona with a goal from – you guessed it – Didier Drogba.
It is not too often you will hear chanting and applause for an opposition player, but expect a huge amount of respect from the Stamford Bridge faithful for the man voted the club’s greatest ever player.
On the pitch, however, there will be no love lost between Drogba and his Chelsea opponents as both sets of players will hopefully provide an entertaining game for such a huge occasion.
Chelsea vs Galatasaray: Pre-match facts
- Chelsea have conceded four goals in the Champions League this season; only Atletico Madrid have conceded fewer
- Fernando Torres has scored six goals in his last five Champions League starts
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their last seven Champions League knockout games (Won 4, drawn 3)
- Chelsea are unbeaten in their three meetings against Galatasaray, scoring seven goals and conceding only one (Won 2, drawn 1)
Source: Opta
Chelsea vs Galatasaray: Predicted Chelsea line-up:
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Luiz, Lampard; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Eto’o
Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Galatasaray
