A tale of two cities this week as Galatasaray met Chelsea on the field of battle while Schalke cowered against the awesome might of Real Madrid. In the first match-up, Fernando Torres put the Blues ahead in the 9th minute of the first half. While both sides had about the same number of opportunities, the Turkish side had slightly more of possession. Aurelien Chedjou's 65th minute strike was well-deserved and the fact that Chelsea tallied a total of four yellow cards to Galatasaray's one illustrates that the English side did not have a good game. Nevertheless, a 1-1 scoreline is relatively good for Chelsea, meaning Turkey's last surviving representative in the Champion's League will have to give it their all in the away fixture. I wouldn't put their chances too high but with the likes of Muslera (and replacement Eray Iscan) in goal, Sneijder, Drogba, and Umut Bulut - well - you can't quite count them out just yet. Injuries may prove to be an issue for the Turks.
Over in Gelsenkirchen, the first ten minutes of the game could have gone either way. In truth, that was the last time Schalke looked like much of a team though. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's goal in the 91st minute of stoppage time was a consolation goal after Benzema, Bale, and Ronaldo each struck twice to make it a 1-6 game. The French and Welshmen were the only scorers of a tense first half though the second half witnessed an explosion of goals. Not the kind of start that the Germans would have wanted to their Round of 16! With that kind of scoreline, I wouldn't be surprised if the return leg in Madrid was just a formality because the chances of Schalke turning this around are next to zero. Having said that, it'd mean there will be nothing holding either side back so it may just be another goal fest. Look for a Europa League update in the next couple days!
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