Chelsea have recorded a 1-1 draw away at Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League second round tie.
The Premier League outfit took the lead after nine minutes when Fernando Torres poked home after good work from Cesar Azpilicueta, but the Blues failed to take advantage of a poor first-half display from their hosts.
The Turkish side returned for the second half with more intent and 25 minutes from time, Aurelien Chedjou ghosted behind John Terry to fire past Petr Cech from three yards to ensure that his team go to Stamford Bridge on level terms.
Read below to see how the action unfolded at the Turk Telekom Arena.
Hello, and welcome to Sports Mole's coverage of the match between Galatasaray and Chelsea in the Champions League second round.
So then, can Chelsea do what Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and Manchester United have failed to do over the past nine days - score a goal in Europe? It's been pretty bleak for English clubs recently, but the Blues could potentially restore a little bit of pride for the Premier with a positive performance this evening.
If the pressure wasn already on to reach the last eight against a passionate Turkish side, it is only intensified by the first face-to-face meeting with Stamford Bridge legend Didier Drogba since he left Chelsea in 2012. Will the Ivorian have a big part to play this evening? We shall wait and see...
The team news is in for both sides, and I will tell you now, there are a couple of surprises.
CHELSEA XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Ramires, Lampard, Willian, Schurrle, Hazard; Torres
GALATASARSAY XI: Muslera; Eboue, Chedjou, Hakan Balta, Alex Telles; Selçuk, Melo, Burak, Sneijder, Hajrovic; Drogba
What I should have added is that the main surprises come from the Chelsea dressing room. Fernando Torres has been preferred to Samuel Eto'o, while Andre Schurrle earns a starting role ahead of Oscar. In defence, David Luiz returns after a minor injury to replace Gary Cahill, who doesn't feature in the squad.
As expected, Didier Drogba leads the line for Galatasaray, with former Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder taking his place in midfield. Regular viewers of the Premier League will also recognise Emmanuel Eboue's name in the right-back position for the Turkish side.
What do we make of that Chelsea starting lineup? Many will be surprised to see Fernando Torres feature in attack ahead of Samuel Eto'o. Eto'o has been at the forefront of the controversy surrounding Jose Mourinho's comments about his strikeforce, while also jesting about the age of the Cameroonian. We can only speculate whether any plans were changed once after the revelations earlier this week.
Another interesting selection is that of Andre Schurrle. Oscar was favourite to get the nod this evening, despite performing below his best over the past month. He suffered a knock at the weekend, but he is fit enough to take his place on the bench so it appears to be a tactical decision from the Portuguese coach.
CHELSEA SUBSTITUTES: Schwarzer, Cole, Kalas, Oscar, Mikel, Ba, Eto'o
GALATASARAY SUBSTITUTES: Ufuk Ceylan, Semih, Sabri, Ceyhun, Yekta, Emre, Umut
The Chelsea substitutes' bench has a familiar look to it apart from one name. Tomas Kalas is a 20-year-old defender who has represented Czech Republic at senior level. He has spent time on loan at Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem over the past couple of seasons, but he did make a brief appearance for Chelsea during their 2-0 win over Arsenal in the Capital One Cup earlier in the campaign.
These two sides have only met on two previous occasions, with the most notable scoreline coming in Istanbul 14 years ago when Chelsea ran out 5-0 winners in Turkey. It was a result that helped further establish Chelsea as an emerging force on the European scene, and one that still stands as one of the greatest results in their European history.
Despite Chelsea's dominance last time out against Galatasaray, don't expect a similar result this evening. Roberto Mancini's outfit have lost just once in their last 19 fixtures, while they also avoided defeat against Juventus during the group stages. Chelsea are in for a real battle tonight, and while he may not admit it, I suspect that Jose Mourinho would be delighted if his side could secure a score draw at the Turk Telekom Arena.
PREDICTION! While all the hype has been about Didier Drogba, it would be foolish of Chelsea to lose sight of the fact that Galatasaray will pose a threat from all over the pitch. The Blues are the favourites on paper but it will take an exceptional performance for Chelsea to return to England with a first-leg lead. The West London outfit should have their moments in Turkey, but Galatasaray could edge to a 2-1 win at the full-time whistle.
Elsewhere this evening, Real Madrid travel to Germany for the first leg of their tie with Schalke 04. You can follow the action in Gelsenkirchen by clicking here.
We are less than 10 minutes away from kickoff. As you would expect, there is a hostile atmosphere inside the Turk Telekom Arena.
The travelling Chelsea fans have brought with them a huge banner saluting the impact that Didier Drogba had at their club. Lovely touch.
The official team sheet had David Luiz starting in place of Gary Cahill, but it's the Englishman who starts in defence. Apologies for the error!
Galatasaray get us underway.
We have only had a minute and players from both sides are struggling with their footing. A sign of things to come? Fernando Torres attempts an intricate pass through to Eden Hazard, but it runs through to the goalkeeper.
CHANCE! Fernando Muslera makes a complete hash of a clearance and the ball falls to Willian 35 yards from goal. The Brazilian sends the ball towards the empty net, but the goalkeeper manages to flick the ball wide of the target with his head. He's got away with that one!
Willian is down after being taken out by a needless challenge by Filipe Melo. The damage appears to be to his back rather than his leg, but like I say, it was late and it was needless.
GOAL! Galatasaray 0-1 Chelsea (Torres)
What a superb goal from Chelsea. Galatasaray lost the ball on the halfway line, and the Blues took full advantage. Eden Hazard and Andre Schurrle combined to play in Cesar Azpilicueta, who pulled the ball back to Fernando Torres to poke into an empty net.
Do Galatasaray have an immediate response? They have looked all over the place in defence, and Roberto Mancini needs to alter something to stop the attacks that are coming from Chelsea.
SHOT! Chelsea break after a Galatasaray attack comes to an end, but Willian's effort from 25 yards is easily held by Fernando Muslera.
That's a bit sneaky from Galatasaray! The ball went into the stands and while Chelsea were waiting for the ball to return, Wesley Sneijder took a quick throw-in to put the Blues on the back foot. Fortunately for Chelsea, a shot from the edge of the area was blazed over the crossbar.
Fernando Torres breaks from the halfway line and it isn't long before he is nudged to the floor by a Galatasaray defender. What can Frank Lampard do from 30 yards out? Not much. The ball sails over the crossbar.
OUCH! Ramires has been caught by a stray elbow to the face. The Brazilian is flat out on the ground and there is blood pouring from his nose. He should be fine to continue, but that looked a nasty one.
Galatasaray are having their best spell of the match and Frank Lampard is forced into action to stop Filipe Melo breaking in on goal. Further up the pitch, Fernando Torres is clutching his face after being sandwiched when competing for a high ball.
CHANCE! Andre Schurrle breaks clear of the offside trap and he has men over in the middle. The German does superbly to find the advancing Ramires, but the Brazilian tamely volleys over the crossbar. That was a decent opening for the visitors.
SHOT! Izet Hajrovic receives the ball on the edge of the area, but his curling effort is easily held by Petr Cech. Roberto Mancini is preparing a change for Galatasaray.
SUBSTITUTION! It's Izet Hajrovic who is being withdrawn, with Yekta Kurtulus joining the action. Will that help the home side improve before the break?
In this evening's other Champions League game, Real Madrid are already 2-0 to the good against Schalke 04. That tie could be done and dusted less than a quarter of the way through the two-legged fixture.
Fernando Torres decides to take the direct approach after receiving the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area, but he over-hits his first touch and the ball is eased out of play.
SAVE! Galatasaray put together a crisp move that concludes with Alex Telles striking the ball towards the bottom corner from 20 yards, which forces Petr Cech to help the ball behind for a corner. After the corner was cleared, Chelsea broke clear, but Eden Hazard spent too much time deciding on his next move, and Galatasaray survived.
CONTROVERSY! I mentioned earlier about this multi-ball system, and Chelsea are lucky to survive conceding an equaliser. John Terry held onto a ball that had been thrown back onto the pitch, but Galatasaray used another to break into the penalty area and score. However, the referee isn't interested, and is more concerned about booking Terry for attempting to waste time.
There will be two minutes of added-on time. The game is so open at the moment!
Andre Schurrle links up with Fernando Torres, but the striker's ball across the box is cleared for a corner. The resulting set piece is clear by the man at the near post.
HALF TIME: Galatasaray 0-1 Chelsea
The half-time whistle goes in Turkey, and Chelsea hold a 1-0 advantage over Galatasaray. Jose Mourinho will be delighted that his side are ahead, but he may be disappointed with their failure to add to their lead.
Galatasaray have had 61% of the possession on their home turf, but as of yet, they haven't made it count. However, Chelsea lead the shot-count by six attempts to four and it wouldn't have been an injustice if they have scored a second before half time. But they didn't, and it is still all to play for in the second half.
Roberto Mancini does have options on the substitutes' bench, but having already made one alteration, he may hold fire before tinkering with his lineup for the start of the second half.
The two sides are slowly, but surely, making their way back out. Galatasaray need a fast start to this second half.
I was wrong - Galatasaray are making a change. Semih Kaya has come on from Hakan Balta. Chelsea get us back underway.
Galatasaray have dominated the opening two minutes of the second half, but Chelsea finally retrieve the ball when Branislav Ivanovic chests the ball into the hands of Petr Cech.
It's been a relatively slow start from Chelsea since the break. The couple of direct balls that they have played have been comfortably defended by their opponents, who are looking to make the most of possession. The Blues could do with stepping 10 yards up the pitch.
CHANCE! After all that, Chelsea should be 2-0 ahead. Fernando Torres broke clear of the Galatasaray defence, but just as it appeared as though he had lost his marker, he took a step to his right that narrowed the angle and although he should have netted, it gave the goalkeeper an easier job of turning the ball behind.
Galatasaray earn a corner after Gary Cahill nearly put the ball through his own net, but the delivery lacked pace and Felipe Melo headed harmlessly over the crossbar.
BOOKING! Andre Schurrle deservedly goes into the book for hacking at Felipe Melo, who is none too pleased at the challenge. A minute later, Selcuk Inan is cautioned for a similar tackle.
BOOKING! Ramires is the third man in the space of a couple of minutes to be handed a yellow card after a reckless challenge to prevent a Galatasaray break.
BOOKING! This is getting a tad silly. The referee now decides to book Petr Cech for time-wasting. That's extremely harsh, the referee was reacting to the boos from the crowd.
MISS! That's an astonishing miss from Selcuk Inan! A header from Didier Drogba was heading marginally wide of the far post, but the midfielder only had to tap the ball into an empty net from a yard, but he could only hit the post. Massive let-off for the Blues.
GOAL! Galatasaray 1-1 Chelsea (Chedjou)
Aurelien Chedjou makes up for that mistake from his teammate by netting an equaliser. A corner was swung into the area and the Cameroonian defender was allowed to ghost in and fire past Petr Cech from inside the six-yard area. Both Cech and John Terry were to blame for that goal.
SUBSTITUTION! Jose Mourinho reacts by introducing John Obi Mikel and Samuel Eto'o for Andre Schurrle and Fernando Torres.
Chelsea are having to fight to avoid defeat at the moment. They look a shadow of the side that dominated the opening 45 minutes. Jose Mourinho would definitely take a draw...
SAVE! Petr Cech is forced into action to stop his side falling behind. A cross from Emmanuel Eboue was diverted to Alex Telles on the edge of the area, and his shot was well tipped over by the Czech stopper.
Chelsea are attempting to take the sting out of the match by retaining possession. It's working to an extent, but they are being met with a chorus of boos from the home crowd. What an atmosphere!
SUBSTITUTION! Didier Drogba is departing the action to an ovation from both sets of supporters. He has been replaced by Umut Bulut.
Seven minutes to go in Turkey. Not a whole lot has happened during the last five minutes, but when it does, it is coming from a Galatasaray attack. Chelsea are content with a draw, but Roberto Mancini's men desperately want a second goal.
Wesley Sniejder, who has been on the periphery of this game, tries to curl the ball into the far corner, but he gets his effort all wrong and it can only find the stands. Four minutes to go.
EFFORT! Samuel Eto'o receives the ball on the right before setting up an opportunity for John Obi Mikel to fire an effort on goal from 30 yards. You know the rest...
There will be three minutes of added-on time.
SUBSTITUTION! Jose Mourinho introduces Oscar for Eden Hazard.
FULL TIME: Galatasaray 1-1 Chelsea
The final whistle goes in Turkey, and after having dominated the first 45 minutes, Chelsea have had to make do with a 1-1 draw with Galatasaray. It will definitely be a case of mixed emotions for Jose Mourinho.
Galatasaray were all over the place during the first half, but on reflection, they were well worth a draw after such a disappointing second-half performance from Chelsea. This tie is finely poised for the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
That will be all from Sports Mole for this match. Thank you for joining us this evening, and we hope to see you again for our coverage of the Europa League tomorrow night. Goodbye for now.
Written by
Darren Plant
Darren Plant
