Slack Chelsea give Galatasary hope for second leg

Chelsea was unable to leave Turkey with a win last night, in what was very much a game of two halves.

The Blues took a lead in the 9th minute thanks to a fast-paced piece of teamwork which completely opened up the Galatasaray defence, with Azpilicueta playing in Torres to slot home.

The Turks were fortunate to make it to half time with only a one-goal deficit with Chelsea having dominated. Roberto Mancini gave them a much needed talking to at half-time, and they responded with some very clever attacking play putting Jose Mourinho’s side on the back foot.

Gala equalised through a Wesley Sneijder corner on 64 which was poorly defended. How Aurelien Chedjou was allowed the room in the box to volley home from close range is a joke.

The Special One tried to change the momentum of the match after the goal by replacing Schurrle with John Obi Mikel, a switch that tells me he was happy to play out the rest of the game goalless.

Didier Drogba deserves a mention just for the legend that he is, despite not having the greatest of games, but in reality it was a below-par performance all-round. He will no doubt be looking forward to returning to Stamford Bridge in 3 weeks time, despite having to play against his old friends in such an important game.

Us Chelsea fans should not be discontented with letting our 1-0 lead slip, as a draw away in Turkey is never an easy task. They have claimed many scalps in that European stronghold, including wins over Real Madrid, Juventus and (Ferguson’s) Manchester United in the past 18 months.

We should be confident of overcoming Galatasaray at home without too much discomfort, considering our home record under Jose. I can see us winning 2-0 on the 18th March but I might change my mind depending on our form over the next few weeks…

How far do you think we can go? There’s only one team I don’t want to draw in the next round…