Turkish Delight On The Night

Galatasaray have the chance to complete a quartet of misery for English teams in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Man City, Arsenal and Man Utd have all already lost their first legs, and only Chelsea are left to fly the flag.

The difference here is that Mourinho will almost certainly ensure his team have realistic prospects when they head back to Stamford Bridge in three weeks’ time. He is a master in this competition and will view the contest as the 180 minute challenge it really is. Simply an away goal, or even a slender defeat may be enough for the Blues to take home.

That may be the best the Europa League holders can get given how strong the Turks are on their own turf. Galatasaray have won four of their last six home Champions League encounters (W4 D1 L1); no mean feat when the opponents in that run included Real Madrid (twice), Juventus and Man Utd, when they were much better.

Those three heavyweights were all beaten by a one-goal margin and I think Roberto Mancini’s boys, inspired by Didier Drogba, could repeat that feat at best odds of 9/2 with Bet365