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

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

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, 

Third Time, in His Sight

Third Time, in His Sight 

Jose Mourinho, is the current Coach of Chelsea FC, of London, England.   He has a disciplined, 'no-nonsense' type of a coaching style.  

Mr Mourinho has unmatched success in the UEFA Champions League.  He has lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy, as a Coach with both:

FC Porto, of Portugal, in the year of 2004, &

FC Internazionale Milano, of Italy, in the year 2010. 

This year, he is trying to lift the UEFA Champions League trophy, for the third time.  

No other coach has ever achieved this feat, ever. 

Chelsea FC is one of the last 16 teams remaining, and the next game will be against Galatasaray, of Istanbul.  

Will he be able to guide his team past Galatasaray, to make it to the semi-final? Most 'sport writers' believe he will.   

I will be interested to watch his progress in this years UEFA Champions League.  

Good luck 'the Special one', Jose Mourinho.  

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.