Drogba: I can repeat Chelsea triumph with Gala

By FOX Sports Staff

Drogba joined Galatasaray in the January transfer window from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua and made his club debut in the Champions League in their 3-2 win over Schalke at the Veltins-Arena.

The home side took the lead early on through Roman Neustadter but former Schalke player Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz struck back in a five-minute blitz to give the Turkish side the upper hand.

Schalke had a glimmer of hope when Michel Bastos pulled a goal back but a stoppage-time winner from substitute Umut Bulut ensured that his side secured a 4-3 win on aggregate to reach the quarterfinals of the competition for the first time since 2001.

Drogba was visibly delighted with the win and believes that it is possible to win the Champions League again with Galatasaray after firing Chelsea to victory last season.

"Anything is possible in football. I can repeat the success I had with Chelsea last season with Galatasaray now," he told Uefa's official website after the game.

"Of course, I was at my best in terms of physical condition [last season]. Now I am struggling a bit. You saw I lost a few balls. It is not easy to return to European football and compete at the highest level in the UEFA Champions League."

The former Chelsea man also had high praise for striker partner Yilmaz, who now leads the Champions League goal charts with Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Burak Yılmaz is now the joint-top goalscorer in UEFA Champions League. You cannot explain it away with luck. It is talent. Every run he makes towards the front causes trouble for opposition defences.

"We are really lucky to have a player like him. If he can improve a few aspects of his game, he will even be a better player."

Fellow January signing Wesley Sneijder admitted that the tie was a close one but his side deserved to go through after sealing the win with a third goal.

"I think we deserved the win. We played well, especially in the first half. In the second we made a lot of mistakes - we made it difficult for ourselves. Schalke played well in the second half.

"We wanted to go for a third goal but they kept believing and pushing. It is a well-deserved victory. We did a great job and now we have to wait for the draw. It will be difficult but it is a pleasure to be in the last eight. Our fans always support us. They are amazing, some of the best fans in the world.

Schalke's young star Julian Draxler conceded that the two goals conceded in the first half made things hard for them and urged his side to turn their focus to the domestic competition, where they sealed a 2-1 win over derby rivals Borussia Dortmund.

"We got a very good result in Turkey and in the second half we had chances but we missed them tonight [Tuesday night] - we did not have enough luck. We wanted to reach the next round but the first-half performance was not good enough. 

"We are very disappointed. This is the biggest competition. Now we have to try to do well in the Bundesliga so we have a chance to play [in this competition] again next year."

The Champions League draw for the next round will take place on Friday 7pm HKT/4:30 IST.