Champions League: Galatasaray Vs Chelsea – Preview & Prediction

After the last minute winner against Everton on Saturday, Chelsea’s attention now turns to the Champions League with a tough away tie against Galatasaray in prospect on Wednesday night. The game against Galatasaray is the first time Drogba will be reunited with Chelsea since his match-winning penalty in the 2012 Champions League final and he is sure to get a warm welcome from the Chelsea faithful in both games.

Turkey has always been a tough place to visit for travelling European sides, but Chelsea can take confidence from their impressive away form in the Champions League this season having already beaten Schalke and Steaua Bucharest convincingly on the road.

The blues will obviously be without Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah, who are ineligible after already playing in the competition this season, but Mourinho is hopeful either David Luiz or Mikel will be fit for the trip to fill in for the impressive Matic.

Chelsea will know they face a tough test against a Galatasaray side who have been in impressive form domestically recently and who beat Juventus to make it through to the knock out stages of the Champions League. Roberto Mancini, now in charge at Galatasaray, also has a good record against Chelsea having won six of his 11 meetings against the blues and will ensure his side are tough to beat at home.

Mourinho can take confidence from Chelsea’s growing defensive stability and the fact they have conceded just three goals in this season Champions League, but even Jose himself admits they still lack firepower up front and Eden Hazard will again be looked upon to lead the attack against Galatasaray.

Where Else Will Goals Come From?

As mentioned, Eden Hazard has been the main attacking threat for Chelsea this season. Willian has also been effective as Chelsea look to break quickly in transition when they win back possession, while Eto’o will be eager to add to his hat-trick against Manchester Utd after having failed to score since that game.

It would not be a surprise to see Ramires start and his energy, which led to the free kick being won late on against Everton, could be vital in this tie. Ramires has also scored a number of important goals for Chelsea in the last few seasons. He has scored 5 goals in the last 3 seasons in the competition.

FlashBack

The last time Chelsea travelled to Galatasaray was back in 1999. On that night, Chelsea ran out 5-0 winners with Tore Andre Flo, Zola & Dennis Wise all on the score sheet.

Match Prediction

We think it will end Galatasaray 1-2 Chelsea with Ramires grabbing the first goal!

We’re sure you Chelsea fans would love that outcome but if you want to have a go at predicting the result yourself take a look at all the stats on our match preview page here.

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