20/10/1999  Galatasaray 0 Chelsea 5

It had been billed as a journey into 'Hell' but Chelsea 
silenced the hostile crowd in Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen 
stadium to resurrect their Champions League campaign with a 
memorable display brimming with assurance.

A strike by Tore Andre Flo put the Blues on their way to 
victory after 32 minutes and the Norwegian's second, followed 
by a solo effort by Gianfranco Zola in a devastating 
five-minute spell just after the break, wrapped up the 
match.

By the end, Chelsea were strolling their way to victory 
amid an almost deathly silence and Dennis Wise emerged from 
the bench to claim a fourth 12 minutes from time, while even 
Gabriele Ambrosetti joined in by stroking home the fifth.

The only note of harsh reality - and a considerable one at 
that - came with the sobering news that Hertha Berlin had 
defeated AC Milan 1-0 at home and Chelsea now still probably 
need at least four points from their remaining two games to 
qualify.

This victory nevertheless marked a selection masterstroke 
by boss Gianluca Vialli, who not only picked Flo ahead of 
£10million signing Chris Sutton but also dropped club captain 
Wise to the bench before his dramatic late introduction.

However, having been outplayed for most of a frenetic 
opening half-hour, Chelsea's defenders also emerged with 
considerable credit for the fortitude which they showed to 
hold on and give the solid base on which Zola could work his 
magical talents.

They proved that there is a strong backbone to this Chelsea 
side, infused with the experience of the likes of former 
European Cup winners Marcel Desailly, Didier Deschamps and 
Albert Ferrer.

After all, this was a match which Chelsea simply could not 
afford to lose but they coped remarkably well with the 
intimidatory surroundings during the first-half before 
destroying Galatasaray in the second period.

Flares were lit, riot police had to shield the players as 
they walked onto the pitch and a cacophany of abusive chants 
urged Chelsea to return from whence they came in no uncertain 
terms - but it mattered not a jot.

Having called for cool heads, that is exactly what Vialli 
got and perhaps it was with that in mind that club captain 
Wise was dropped to the bench four days after he had been sent 
off for the ninth time in his Chelsea career at Liverpool.

With just 200 fans to cheer them on, Chelsea were soon 
defending desperately as full-back Ferrer had to nip in to 
deny Buruk Okan when a mistake by Graeme Le Saux gifted 
possession to the midfielder inside the penalty area.

Soon afterwards, playmaker Gheorghe Hagi struck the outside 
of the post with a curling free-kick and smoke from flares 
started to envelop the pitch as Chelsea struggled to even 
retain possession.

With Hagi expertly pulling the strings as ever, Galatasaray 
were making far better use of the full width of the pitch and 
the visitors were forced to scrap for everything.

But this is a Chelsea side which has learned not to buckle 
even under intense pressure and while they can at times still 
suffer from inconsistency, this was a valiant effort to hold 
out in a frenetic opening half-hour.

Attacking forays by the visitors were few and far between 
but Chelsea had a valuable ace up their sleeve in the shape of 
the irrepressible Zola.

After Gustavo Poyet had seen a drive tipped over the bar by 
inexperienced keeper Bolukbasi Mehmet, the Italian's trickery 
carved open the home defence on the counter-attack.

The Italian lofted a through-ball into the path of Flo, who 
was able to bear down on goal as Mehmet, a stand-in for 
Claudio Taffarel - who was sent off at Stamford Bridge - 
hesitated fatally on his line.

Flo, who had not scored since the opening day of the 
season, showed commendable composure as he turned inside 
defender Gheorghe Popescu and threaded his shot inside the far 
post.

Chelsea still needed their own keeper Ed De Goey to produce 
a superb diving save to tip a header from Hakan Sukur onto the 
crossbar as Galatasaray renewed their assault.

Frank Leboeuf also required treatment after a clash with 
Popescu but Chelsea resolutely hung on to their lead until the 
half-time whistle blew and they promptly took the Turks apart 
after the break.

Within four minutes, they were 2-0 up as Zola picked out 
Poyet at the far post and the Uruguay international did well 
to head the ball back across goal towards Flo.

The centre-forward still had much to do but he expertly 
controlled the ball with his chest and turned in a flash to 
strike a volley into the far corner.

Galatasaray were rocked on their heels but worse was to 
follow for them after 54 minutes when Zola broke the offside 
trap to shimmy his way past keeper Mehmet and roll the ball 
into an empty net.

By now, the crowd were virtually silent and were only 
temporarily roused when a free-kick flashed dangerously across 
the Chelsea penalty area, while Erdem Arif also came 
close.

However, they did have considerable cause for anger when 
Desailly appeared to trip Hakan Sukur in the box only for 
referee Vitor Manuel Melo Pereira to book the Turkish striker 
for diving.

It was their last real threat and they were so exposed at 
the back that Wise had all the time in the world to sidefoot 
home Chelsea's fourth goal with 12 minutes.

In the closing stages, even substitute Gabriele Ambrosetti, 
who has hardly set the world alight since his recent arrival 
from Italy, joined by striking the fifth.

By the end, the stadium was half-empty - and many of the 
remaining spectators even clapped Chelsea off the pitch.

Hell? More like heaven for Vialli's side but they must now 
repeat the performance in Milan next week as well as against 
Berlin in a fortnight's time.