Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says they paid the price for not killing off their opponents once again. Chelsea drew 1-1 away to Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. Having seen Manchester United follow Arsenal and Manchester City in losing their last-16 first-leg ties 2-0, the west Londoners refused to wilt under the intense pressure brought by the raucous Turk Telecom Arena crowd. The Blues had looked on course for victory after Fernando Torres netted in a dominant first-half display, only for Roberto Mancini's side to produce a much improved performance after the break and earn a 1-1 as poor defending allowed Aurelien Chedjou to strike home. This was a match of many a sub-plot, varying from Chelsea favourite Didier Drogba facing his former club for the first time to former Manchester City boss Mancini coming up against Mourinho, the man who succeeded him at the Inter Milan helm.
Mourinho named an attack-minded line-up and was rewarded after just nine minutes when fine play down the left ended with Fernando Torres sweeping home Cesar Azpilicueta's measured cross. It was the first goal by an English side in Europe since December 12 and one Burak Yilmaz thought he had cancelled out as half-time approached, only for his strike from a quickly-taken throw-in to be disallowed as there were two balls on the pitch. The other was under John Terry's arm and the Chelsea captain was booked for his part in the bizarre incident, which saw him booed off the pitch at half-time by the irate home support. Galatasaray's fanatical support would soon be thanking Terry, though. Minutes after Selcuk Inan hit the post, the Blues centre-back let Aurelien Chedjou out of his sights as he fired the hosts level to see the tie level when the teams resume battle in three weeks.
