The Didier Drogba lovefest that was supposed to be a Champions League match

Chelsea and Galatasaray were supposed to play the second leg of a Champions League round of 16 tie at Stamford Bridge. But since the occasion marked Didier Drogba's return to his former home for the first time since he scored the decisive penalty in the 2012 Champions League final, sealing his place as one of Chelsea's most beloved players of all time, Galatasaray rolled over, Chelsea won 2-0 and the primary function of the night became to honor Drogba.

First, Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay presented Drogba (accompanied by his son Isaac) with a trophy. This started the process of melting Drogba's heart and ensuring he wouldn't score any goals. He was also given a standing ovation. How can you knock a team out of the Champions League when they give you a trophy and a standing ovation? You can't. This should be a thing clubs do before big games even if the opponent's best player ever played for them before.

A lovely banner, but it does kind of make it seem like Drogba died or is still playing in China. Neither of these things are the case, though.

Note that this banner was done in Galatasaray colors just to further show how the love of Drogba transcends competitive constructs. It apparently got the attention of Didier himself because he blasted a free kick off it during the match.

So Chelsea scored their two goals, Drogba's only contribution to the match was a yellow card and when the final whistle blew, the lovin' only intensified with Drogba and John Terry starring in the greatest romance of our time.

This culminated in a joint interview with Chelsea TV.

It will only be later, when Drogba returns to Turkey with Galatasaray that he will realize they were knocked out of the Champions League and he was totally mind gamed by Jose Mourinho.

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Brooks Peck

is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter! Follow @BrooksDT