Wednesday 20 February 2013

Place : Ali Sami Yen Spor Komleksi Türk Telekom Arena, Istanbul, Turkey
Time: Wednesday 19:45 GMT, 20:45 CET, Thursday 01:15 IST (will be telecast on Ten Sports in India)
Referee: William Collum (Scotland)
FBL-TUR-GALATASARAY-DROGBA
The tie between Galatasaray and Schalke may not have the charm as some of the other ties in the round of 16 of the Champions League, but it should still produce some brilliant footballing displays. Schalke, in recent years, have put together a formidable squad, while the much anticipated debuts of Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder in the Champions League for Galatasaray will provide the zing in the contest.
This will be the first time Drogba will take to the field in the Champions League after hitting the winning penalty in last season’s final. An unsuccessful spell with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua was followed by the Ivorian hitman returning to European competition, and much of the attention would fall upon what he and Wesley Sneijder can conjure up for the Turkish giants.
Both Sneijder and Drogba have previously been on teams triumphing in this competition. Drogba won the trophy last season playing a vital role in the campaign for the Blues, while the Dutch midfielder lifted the trophy with Inter Milan in 2010.
Schalke will be up against it, with a number of players sidelined due to injuries and key midfielder Lewis Holtby now plying his trade at Tottenham. On top of the strengthened Galatasaray team, the Ali Sami Yen Spor Komleksi Türk Telekom Arena is one of the most hostile environments for any visiting teams. Unlike games like in which Celtic and Arsenal were involved, the home advantage may be vital in the two-legged tie.
Galatasaray Devil Field Against Manchester United
While Galatasaray will be favourites, Schalke’s record away to Turkish opposition (both 3-3 draws) should give them the confidence to pull off a result. Expect a tight game, even though the likes of Drogba, Yilmaz and Huntelaar should shine.
 
FORM
GALATASARAY: DLWDWW
Dec 23 FT Trabzonspor 0-0 Galatasaray Super Lig
Jan 18 FT Kasimpasa 2-1 Galatasaray Super Lig
Jan 27 FT Galatasaray 2-1 Besiktas Super Lig
Feb 2 FT Bursaspor 1-1 Galatasaray Super Lig
Feb 10 FT Galatasaray 2-0 Antalyaspor Super Lig
Feb 15 FT Akhisar Belediye 1-2 Galatasaray Super Lig
The recent win over Akhisar Belediye, which saw both Sneijder and Drogba come off the bench to score one goal a piece and lead them victory, will give them a lot of confidence. The victory meant that the red and gold extended their lead to six points at the top of the Turkish Super Lig over their fierce rivals Fenerbahce.
The Turkish Giants have lost only once in their last 10 games in the domestic league, but unlike their German opposition, booked their place in the knockout rounds on the last matchday of the group stage courtesy of a win over Manchester United, who had already qualified.
SCHALKE 04: LWDLLD 
Dec 18 FT Schalke 04 1-2 Mainz DFB Pokal (Round of 16)
Jan 18 FT Schalke 04 5-4 Hannover 96 Bundesliga
Jan 26 FT FC Augsburg 0-0 Schalke 04 Bundesliga
Feb 2 FT Schalke 04 1-2 SpVgg Greuther Furth Bundesliga
Feb 9 FT Bayern Munich 4-0 Schalke 04 Bundesliga
Feb 16 FT Mainz 2-2 Schalke 04 Bundesliga
The German side has been on a dismal run of late, which has seen them drop to ninth in the Bundesliga table. New manager Jens Keller, who took over from Huub Stevens in December, is yet to see much success. One win in their last 14 certainly does their confidence no good coming into the game.
Keller’s men will have to look at their early season Champions league performances to draw inspiration from. An unbeaten campaign in the group stages, which included a 2-0 victory at the Emirates over Arsenal, now seems a long time ago.
TEAM NEWS
GALATASARAY
As stated earlier, the game is likely to hand out European debuts to Galatasaray’s star duo of Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba. 
Tomas Ujfalusi and Johan Elmander are expected to miss the game due to injuries.
SCHALKE 04
Schalke would welcome the sight of their top-scorer Klaas-Jan Huntelaar back in the fold. The Dutchman is expected to return after having troubles with an eye injury in recent weeks.
However, they will be without the services of a large number of key men such as Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Atsuto Uchida, Ibrahim Afellay and Ciprian Marica, all of whom have been sidelined by injuries.
STATS AND FACTS
0 - Schalke are yet to lose against Turkish opposition in the Champions League (2 wins 2 draws).
- This will be the first ever competitive meeting between the sides.
3 – The Germans have reached the knockout stage for the competition for the third time, after 2007/08 and 2010/11.
4 – Klaas Jan-Huntelaar, who should be back for the Germans, has scored 4 in 5 starts in the group stage.
- Galatasaray have failed to win any of their last 5 home games against German opposition.
- The Turkish side only scored 7 goals in the 6 group stage matches. Joint lowest amongst the 16 teams that qualified. Six of them were from Burak Yilmaz.
12 - Its been 12 years since Galatasaray reached the last eight stage of the competition.
39 - Didier Drogba has found the back of the net on 39 occasions in the Champions League. Only Lionel Messi(56) and Cristiano Ronaldo(44) have scored more in the competition among active players.

Zenit St Petersburg Hulk (R) vies with Malaga’s Eliseu (L) during an UEFA Champions League group C football match in St. Petersburg on November 21, 2012.
A rather interesting study was conducted by GiveMeFootball.com which took a look at the top ten most expensive strikers in respect to their goals per game ratio for their respective clubs in relation to their transfer fee.
Note: The transfer amount used for calculation can be more or less than the actual amount.
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid for £80m, and has been scoring a humongous amount of goals since then. Although technically not a striker, Cristiano Ronaldo’s cost per goal is pretty low in comparison to the other players in the list.
Goals/Games: 165/164
Cost per Goal: £484,848 
Zlatan Ibrahimovic‘s move to Barcelona for £56m turned out to be a bad move for the Spanish giants, and costing more than £2.5m per goal, he stands out as one of the most expensive strikers on the list.
Goals/Games: 22/46
Cost per Goal: £2.57m 
Fernando Torres joined Chelsea for a hefty £50m from Liverpool, and his current ratio of 4.75 goals per Chelsea manager makes one wonder if the Spaniard will ever regain his long lost form.
Goals/Games: 19/67
Cost per Goal: £2.63m
Brazilian attacker Hulk had completed an eyewatering £48.5 million switch to Zenit St Petersburg from Porto this summer, and although it might be too early to compare his goal tally with the other players, he stands at £16.16m per goal. Expensive even by Russian standards!
Goals/Games: 3/13
Cost per Goal: £16.16m
Radamel Falcao joined Atletico Madrid for a staggering £41.5m from Porto, and the Colombian has not disappointed. He has already scored half a century of goals, and looks like he isn’t stopping by any means.
Goals/Games: 50/63
Cost per Goal: £830,000
Sergio Aguero turned out to be one of those few buys that were actually worth the money Manchester City paid. He joined the English Champions for £39.5m and costing almost a million per goal, the Argentine forward score the winner last season against QPR helping his club win the title.
Goals/Games: 37/63
Cost per Goal: £1.07m
Ex-Brazil striker Ronaldo, arguably the best striker in the past 30 years joined Real Madrid for £39.5m in the year 2002. Looking back now, the move looks like a steal for the Spanish capital.

Goals/Games: 83/127
Cost per Goal: £475,903
Andy Carroll  transfer to Liverpool for £35m failed to bear any fruit, and six goals in 42 first team appearances imply he’s felt the strain.
Goals/Games: 11/62
Cost per Goal: £3.18m
David Villa to Barcelona was a safe and successful deal the club had in the recent past in terms of buying strikers. His £35m transfer did nothing but help the club win more trophies, season after season.
Goals/Games: 37/91
Cost per Goal: £945,945
Christian Vieri has played for no fewer than 12 clubs throughout his career, but his move to Inter Milan for £33.5m turned out to be the best move for the player in his career.
Goals/Games: 103/143
Cost per Goal: £325,242