After twice losing to Basel in the group stages, the Blues knew they needed to beat Steaua Bucharest at home if they were to top their group and avoid draws against some of Europe’s big teams like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Demba Ba’s crucial 10th minute goal meant Chelsea claimed top spot in group E and avoided the top seeds for the first knockout round. Mourinho’s Chelsea will face teams who qualified in second position from their group, apart from English teams and Schalke, which include Bayer Leverkusen, Olympiakos, Zenit St Petersburg, AC Milan and, more importantly, Galatasaray.
Chelsea’s former target man Didier Drogba now plies his trade with the Turkish side after leaving Chelsea in 2012. After a short stint in China, the Ivory Coast forward joined Galatasaray earlier this January and helped them with the league title in the 2012-13 season.
Drogba’s last kick for Chelsea was scoring the decisive penalty which earned the Blues their first ever Champions League trophy in 2012. Bayern Munich were their opponents at their own Allianz Arena stadium, and it was the home side who took the lead but Drogba levelled just before full-time and sent the Chelsea fans into jubiliation after his penalty kick.
He is still worshipped by Chelsea supporters for his immense contribution to the club and Mourinho believes it is only fitting that the 35-year-old comes back to Stamford Bridge and receive the reception he fittingly deserves.
The draw of the knockout stages always brings surprises, where many former players go back to their old clubs either in acrimonious circumstances or in appreciation of their achievements. Last season, Real Madrid was drawn against Manchester United which gave Ronaldo a chance to go back to Old Trafford.
According to Yahoo! Eurosport, Mourinho is hoping the draw will be kind to ‘King Drogba’ so that the Galatasaray forward can look forward to a hero’s welcome. He said, “He deserves a reception here, even better, he deserves it even more than me.”
He added, “He deserves to get what I got against Hull City (Mourinho’s first game back in charge this season). He deserves double or three times that. I know what I felt and I think he deserves that. So yes Galatasaray is difficult, very difficult but I would like Didier to be back here and to feel what I felt.”