The Chess Match Begins

The Chess Match Begins

On February 26, 2014, the UEFA Champions League game between Chelsea FC vs Galatasaray AS will be played at 'Turk Telekom Ali Samiyen Stadium', in Istanbul, Turkey. 

This is the knock-out phase of the competition, and the next game between the two clubs will be on March 18, 2014, in London, England. 

          Mourinho 

The winner will be in the 'last 8', semi-finals of this tournament.  

However, before dreaming about titles, Chelsea's Coach Jose Mourinho, will need to win the 'Chess Match', with Galatasaray's Coach of Roberto Mancini.   

          Mancini

Mr Mourinho had the following to say, about this tie:

“I think this is a tie that will go to the end. It will go right to the end.”

I do agree with Mr Mourinho; this will be a tricky couple of games, and it will go right to the wire.

Thank you, 

Ben

The Fair Draw

The Fair Draw

The first leg of the game between Chelsea FC and Galatasaray AS, ended with a well played 'draw' at Istanbul, Turkey.  

The second leg between the two teams will be played at Stamford Bridge Stadium of London, on March 16, 2014. 

          Stamford Bridge Stadium, London

I wrote a blog a few days back titled: 

'The Chess Match Begins'

The link is attached below, please find it on this site, click on this site.

Back to today's blog:

Chelsea looked like they wanted the 'win' after scoring an early goal to make it 1 - 0, and afterwards created many quality chances to make it 2 - 0 or even 3 - 0, however, this did not happen.  The defensive vulnerability of Galatasaray was evident, and at 33th minute, Roberto Mancini, Gala's coach made a substitution for a 'defensive midfield', which changed the flow of the game, in their favor.  

The substitution for Galatasaray began many improved 'spell of attacks' on Chelsea's net, which finally gave the host a well deserved goal, to make it 1 - 1.  

          Roberto Mancini, with Jose Mourinho in the background

If 'luck' was in Gala's favor, I do believe that they deserved another goal for a 'win' in Istanbul. 

Chelsea FC has the advantage since they scored a crucial away goal, and therefore a 0 - 0 result in London will have them make it to the 'Last 8' of the UEFA Champions League.   

          Burak Yilmaz & Eden Hazard

This will be another 'well fought' tactical game, and in my opinion there will be a couple of goals scored, even though Jose Mourinho will try to have a Chelsea FC play defensively.  

Prediction by my 'heart' says: 2-1 for Galatasaray. 

Prediction by my 'mind' says: 2-1 for Chelsea. 

May it be an exciting game.  

Thank you for reading,

Ben

The Midfield Battle

The Midfield Battle

Today, I would like to further analyze the soccer/football game played last week between Chelsea FC & Galatasaray AS, in UEFA Champions League. 

The game was played in Istanbul and the result was a deadlock tie score of 1 - 1. 

          Jose Mourinho & Roberto Mancini

The game did not look as close as the final score, in the first 30 minutes of play Chelsea FC was all over Galatasaray AS.  The reason for this, in my opinion was that Gala's manager Roberto Mancini had the wrong formation on the field.  He choose a 4-4-2 formation. This means that there were 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, and 2 strikers.  

This kind of formation against a very good dribbling and passing team like Chelsea FC is not very smart, since it gives the Londoners plenty of room and space in the midfield area.  And in turn, plenty of passes to the strikers for goal scoring opportunities.  Luckily for Gala, Chelsea FC only scored on one of the attacks, instead of 3 or 4.  

          Jose Mourinho in the Bench

Being a good Manager, Roberto Mancini saw this (loosing) battle between the two teams midfielders, and he therefore completed a substitution in the 33 minute to bring in a defensive-midfielder named 'Yekta Kurtulus', and also changed the formation to a 4-5-1.  

This tactic payed-off as Gala started plenty of attacks on Chelsea net, while clearly winning the midfield battle.  

Surely, a goal would come, and it came in the 68 minute, to make it 1 - 1.  

This was an entertaining, well played game by both clubs. 

          Gala Bench

I'm looking forward to watching the 'return leg' of the game between these two clubs on March 18, 2014.  It will be another 'chase match' of a game between Jose Mourinho of Chelsea FC and Roberto Mancini of Galatasaray AS. 

May the better team make it to the last 8 of this competition.  

Thank you for visiting. 

We Have

We Have

Today, March 18, 2014, the game I will be watching in the UEFA Champions League is:

Galatasaray versus Chelsea

It should be an exciting game, may the better team, make it to the semi final of this competition. 

Sincerely, 

Ben

Last four of the UEFA Champions League

Last four of the UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League for the 2013 - 2014 season has proceeded to the Quarter-Finals (Last 4).  The following are the remaining teams left:

     Chelsea

     Bayern Munich

(No picture)

Real Madrid

(No picture)

Athletico Madrid

There were a couple of upsets in my opinion. 

Athletico Madrid eliminating Barcelona was a shocker. 

And

Chelsea FC coming back from a 3-1 first game loss, to win the second game 2-0. 

I'm very interested to see which teams will be matched against one another.  

What is your prediction for the 'last two'?

Thank you for reading, 

Ben

🤓

Last Eight

Last Eight

The UEFA Champions League for the 2013 - 2014 season has proceeded to the Quarter-Finals (Last Eight).  The teams remaining are the following:

     Bayern Munich

Real Madrid (Spain)

Barcelona (Spain)

Athletico Madrid (Spain)

Bayern Munich (Germany)

Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

Manchester United (England)

Chelsea (England)

Paris St Germain (France)

     Barcelona

The draw for the matchups have settled, and they are:

Chelsea vs Paris St Germain

Manchester United vs Bayern Munich

Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund

Barcelona vs Athletico Madrid

     Real Madrid

I'm very interested to see who will make it to the 'last four' of this prestiges tournament.  

What is your prediction for the 'last four'?

Sincerely, 

The Chess Match Of Galatasaray and Chelsea

The Chess Match Of Galatasaray and Chelsea

On February 26, 2014, the UEFA Champions League game between Chelsea FC vs Galatasaray AS will be played at 'Turk Telekom Ali Samiyen Stadium', in Istanbul, Turkey. 

This is the knock-out phase of the competition, and the next game between the two club will be on March 18, 2014, in London, England. 

          Chelsea

The winner will be in the 'last 8', semi-finals of this tournament.  

Galatasaray

The last game of Galatasaray was against rival Besiktas,

Result was a difficult 1-0, win. 

The line- up was:

Muslera, Semih, Ceyhun (Yekta 69), Hakan, Veysel, Melo, Selfuk, Sneijder (Gokhan 81), Telles, Burak, Drogba.

Chelsea

The last game of Chelsea was against Everton,

Result was a 1-0, win. 

The line- up was:

Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill, Azpilicueta; Matic, Lampard; Hazard, Oscar (Ramires 46), Willian (Torres 62); Eto'o (Schurrle 69).

          Gala

This will be an exciting game to watch, make time for it. 

Thank you, 

Worrisome Developments at Galatasaray

Worrisome Developments at Galatasaray

I am a supporter of Galatasaray Football Club, of Istanbul Turkey.  However, I am extremely worried of the past 5 games of the club; prior to the Champions League game against Chelsea FC of London England. 

          Jump around

I have written below the past 5 games, and the record for 'Gala' is: 

2 wins, 2 draws, 1 tie. 

Next game: 

Sun 02/02/14, League, Galatasaray vs Bursaspor

          No matter how cold it is, need to train 

Wed 29/01/14, Turkish Cup, Galatasaray 3 - 0 Elazıgspor

Sun 26/01/14,Turkish League, Gaziantepspor 0 - 0 Galatasaray

Wed 22/01/14, Turkish Cup, Elazıgspor 1 - 0 Galatasaray

Sun 19/01/14, Turkish Cup, Antalyaspor 1 - 1 Galatasaray

Wed 15/01/14, Turkish Cup, Galatasaray 2 - 0 Tokatspor

          Stretching for top form

Understandably, the team is trying to find a 'new' playing style under the rule of Mr Roberto Mancini, however, they better do this extremely quick. Galatasaray needs to find 'top-form' to convince us loyal followers and 'football watchers' of the world that they have any chance of eliminating Chelsea FC from the Champions League, and making it to the last 8 of this competition. 

The 'clash' of Galatasaray and Chelsea will be on February 26, 2014; therefore, plenty of time to re-develop top-form, however 'convincing future Turkish League victories' will be the key to develop high-morale of the players.  

          Practising and jogging 

Here is a link titled 'The Clash of Galatasaray vs Chelsea', which I wrote recently of the match held between the two clubs in 1999.  If the link does not work, please copy/paste it to the address bar. 

http://goodread10.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-clash-of-galatasaray-vs-chelsea.html

Good luck to both teams.  

Thank you for reading,

Ben

🤓

Careless Spending by Chelsea FC

Careless Spending by Chelsea FC

Nemanja Matic was traded to Benfica FC in 2001; plus Chelsea FC gave 23.5 million pound to the Portuguese club to acquire David Luiz, in return. 

             Benfica FC jersey

Now let us fast-forward to today.

Nemanja Matic is re-acquired from Benfica FC for a sum of 22 million pounds. 

Mr Matic has been voted the 'Portuguese player' of the year for 2013; but this reason should not stop us spectators to question this 'trade'. 

Is this careless spending by the London based football club?  

The questions that could be asked are:

- why was this player not kept at Chelsea FC previously?

- did the 'coaching staff' not see the potential of this player?

- is a 'midfielder' worth this much money, when there are quality players available for 1/3 the cost of this 'trade'. 

- does Chelsea FC not feel embarrassed about this trade?

            Chelsea FC jersey

I am very happy that 'Chelsea Coaching Staff' and particularly the Coach, Mr Jose Mourinho is not a 'financial analyst' for my 'portfolio' or my 'country'. 

Good luck to Mr Matic at his old/new club, he is a good player, and I hope he keeps 'embarrassing' the 'Chelsea FC Coaching Staff'. 

Sincerely.