Didier Drogba welcomes his old pals to Türk Telekom Arena is the Match of the Week between Galatasaray and Chelsea.

Galatasaray v Chelsea 

Champions League 1/8-finals Round 1

Türk Telekom Arena

26-02-2014 @ 19.45 UK

How are the two teams form?

The home side, Galatasaray, are currently second in the Turkish Superlig and are unbeaten in 11 matches. In fact, the Turks have not lost at home in any competition this season. Burak Yilmaz is the current top scorer for Galatasaray with 12 goals and is third on the top scorer list in Turkey.

Chelsea are first in the Premier League after a late win against Everton on Saturday. The Pensioners are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League matches and goes into the Champions League match with confidence. Eden Hazard is the top scorer with 12 goals in the Premier League this season.

The last meeting between the two sides was in 1999 where they both were playing in the Champions League Group H. Back then Chelsea won both meetings 5-0 and 1-0 respectively.

What are the probable line ups?

Aydin Yilmaz is the only player on the Galatasaray injury list while Chelsea's contains Tomas Kalas and Luiz. Furthermore, Oscar is rated doubtful for the match.

Muslera

Chedjou - Kaya - Zan

Eboué - Inan - Felipe Melo - Riera

Sneijder

Drogba - Yilmaz

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Eto'o

Hazard - Oscar - Willian

Matic - Ramires

Azpilicueta - Cahill - Terry - Ivanovic

Cech

What to expect from this match?

On paper, Chelsea are the favorites in this match but the fact that Galatasaray have not lost at home this season gives the Turks a chance. Galatasaray will probably take a more defensive stand in this match and let the visitors take the initiative to create chances. The big question is if Jose Mourinho will spare some of the profiles and put more focus on the tight battle in the Premier League rather than progressing in the Champions League. No matter what Mourinho decides, I will be surprised if Chelsea doesn't win in Turkey. 

What are the odds?

According to Oddschecker.com, Chelsea are the favorites with the odds 1 at most bookmakers. Bet365 holds the best bet on a Galatasaray win with 10/3 while a draw gives a 5/2 at Bwin.

Didier Drogba joined Chinese team Shanghai Shenhua this week on a two-and-a-half-year contract worth $16 million a year. In Shanghai, he will team up with his former Chelsea colleague Nicolas Anelka and together they will be the attacking force for the club. But, are the million dollar signings the right for Chinese football?

Most Asian, as well as the American league, has a history of signing elder European superstars or South American players with no profile in Europe. This is helping the leagues develop, in some sense, but it also kills the potential of their own national players. The American MLS signed some of the world’s biggest stars in the 1970’s with New York Cosmos as the most prominent club. Players as Pelé, Giogio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer contributed to the development of football (soccer) in the U.S and made the American league entertaining for the whole world. However, as the superstars retired or left the league, the interest fell, both in USA and Europe. For several years, American soccer had been ignored, until the league started signing European stars again and especially when David Beckham joined L.A. Galaxy. However, meanwhile some of the domestic American players has made a name of themselves and have had a career in Europe. Suddenly, the MLS is not all about elder stars but also about the American players. Suddenly, the European clubs started looking for talents in America. This is what China is hoping for now.

The signings of Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba can and probably will bring some attention and hopefully some quality to the Chinese league. However, the enormous salaries given to players as the two former Chelsea forwards can kill the talent work in the country. An article from goal.com reveals that an average foreign player earns around $863.000 a year while the average domestic player earns $246.000 a year. When the Chinese clubs are buying their way to glory, rather than developing their domestic players the Chinese national team will suffer. One of the main problems is that most of the stars from European football is in their dying years of their career and is really just looking for a pay check. When they have signed with an Asian club there is no way back, and the motivation might have gone.

Another problem is the media coverage of the Chinese League. Many of the players signing with a Chinese or another Asian team will often be forgotten by the European audience. With USA as a part of the Western society, the MLS is followed by the European football. The play style in USA is also more alike the European than the Asian. More and more young European players are trying their luck in the American League, because they can create a name for themselves and return to Europa. The Western Media coverage of the Asian leagues is close to zero, and as long as it stays this way no young players will join the leagues to develop. Bringing Drogba to the Chinese League will bring some attention to China at the moment, but soon we will have forgotten all about it.

China has not qualified for the World Cup since 2002, and this is not going to change as long as the clubs keep signing 'over the hill stars from Europe. Most of the Asian players who makes a breakthrough is brought to European or American football clubs. This once again lowers the quality of the domestic league. Instead of spending a large amount of money on one of the 'Old-boys superstars' the clubs should focus on signing their own stars and keep them in the domestic league. This will, without a doubt, help tournaments develop and thereby help the national teams. If the national teams becomes better, so does the media coverage from the rest of the world. That said, it is important to get some more or less, well known names to China. However, spending $16 million a year on a single player, does not seem as the right move.