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UCL Round of 16 (Galatasaray Edition)

Galatasaray’s run in the Champions League proves why they deserve to be there. To have gotten out of a tough group stage and into the knockout round is a huge achievement. They thrive on the Aslan mentality, the passion of their supporters, and the sheer willingness to fight. However, things didn’t go their way in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Galatasaray’s biggest weakness was leaving open spaces, which Chelsea found a way to easily exploit. This is what the Blues wanted to capitalize on. Couple that with not effectively closing down quick players, it becomes a recipe for disaster. This was the case for Chelsea’s opening goal. It sucked the life force out of Galatasaray. The midfield was poor to contain Hazard who instinctively released the ball to Oscar. Oscar’s run caused Semih to get out of position and Chedjou was outrun by Eto’o. It was a quality finish by Eto’o who was lurking like a predator in between the two center-backs.

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Most of the time, Hazard was cruising down Galatasaray’s right-hand side. His technique on the ball and clever movement was too much to handle for Eboué. This area of the pitch was the most vulnerable. Chedjou had to help out Eboué, so this created further gaps in defense.

To add to that, the attack was lacking focus and sharp execution. Burak Yılmaz was withdrawn on the right and couldn’t support Drogba. This applied more pressure on Drogba. Having Sneijder on the ball was crucial, but it just didn’t happen. To keep Sneijder in check, Ramires would dispossess the Dutchman and Galatasaray got caught in Chelsea’s quick transitions. Too many times Sneijder was forced to drop deep, so Cimbom were not able to get the full effect of his creativity. His involvement would have delivered the ball in more dangerous areas. The best opportunity came for Drogba in the dying minutes of the match. He was closest to goal he had ever been, but Čech made an excellent save.

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Although the score would indicate otherwise, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Galatasaray. There were positives to their game. When GS were using strength in numbers to push into the box, CFC looked nervous. Galatasaray used the flanks to the best of their ability. A lot of the build-up play came from Melo and Eboué pulling the strings in attack. Melo was most instrumental in midfield because he had a hand in retaining the ball for Galatasaray. This is why possession was slightly higher for Galatasaray and pass accuracy was 80%. With Chelsea having attempted a total of 20 shots, Muslera made save-after-save. He is no stranger to high pressure situations .The ever-reliable Uruguayan kept Galatasaray's chances alive from start to finish. Both Melo and Muslera showed why they are the backbone of GS. Therefore, both deserve to be MOTM.

It’s a tough loss for Galatasaray to digest, but they walk out with their heads held high. What they achieved is an example and a lesson to keep improving. A team who prides themselves on resilience and unity will leave their mark in Europe once again.

“Now we have a championship to play for with another nine games. We need to try to recover and play to our best. We know we can improve.”                - Roberto Mancini