Today at 2:45 p.m. ET the UEFA Champions League's round of 16 continues at Turk Telecom Stadium when host Galatasaray takes on Chelsea in a matchup that can be live streamed here.
Galatasaray will need the home crowd to push it along as Chelsea holds a major plus-minus differential over them from the group stage. Galatasaray won two games in group play, lost three, and drew once while being outscored overall by six goals.
Chelsea, on the other hand, was 4-2 with no draws, and a goal differential of plus-nine. Galatasaray's coach Roberto Mancini believes his side is the underdog in this match for more reasons than the statistics show. Mancini said Chelsea's prestige and experience give them an edge for Galatasaray to overcome.
'I think that Chelsea are on top of the Premier League because they are a top team. They have really good players - these players who can change the game at any moment. They have fantastic players who are used to playing games like this. I think they have an 80 per cent chance of going through.''
While Mancini had high praise for Chelsea as a club, he was less inclined to credit the coaching of Jose Mourinho for Chelsea's success. "Mourinho won the Champions League because he took a good team," said Mancini. "He took a team that, like Manchester City, I built. A team that had a strong mentality."
The mixing of relationships goes both ways, as two former Mourinho players will be trying to key Galatasaray today. Dider Drogba and Wesley Sneijder were key parts of Mourinho's championship Inter Milan side. 'Didier was an important man, an important player for Chelsea,'' Mancini said. 'Wesley won under Mourinho a Champions League.
'They have a good relationship with him, but tomorrow, for 90 minutes, I think they will be enemies."
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