All eyes may have been on Didier Drogba but it was another former Champions League winner who paved the way for Chelsea's stroll into the quarter-finals.
Determined not to be upstaged by the Ivorian, Cameroon's own African prince Samuel Eto'o took just four minutes to breach the Galatasaray defence and his heartfelt celebrations were revealing.
It was as if he wanted to remind Chelsea fans that they have a handy replacement for the returning ex star, regardless of their understandable adulation for their old hero.
Eto'o did what he does best, waiting on the shoulder of last defender Aurelien Chedjou before springing to fire in a shot across Fernando Muslera to open the scoring.
It was always likely that Drogba's emotional return would flounder though.
He was left to feed on scraps, sending a free-kick wildly over the bar from 35 yards with an earlier overhead kick not much closer to the target.
His flair for the big occasion could not rise up this time.
With the Blues always carrying the greater menace, it was no surprise that they banged in a killer second as Gary Cahill smashed home from close range to put the game to bed.
The only real moment of note in the second-half, inevitably, was the thunderous ovation afforded to Drogba at the end of the match.
Last off the pitch, he was cheered to the rafters as he waved goodbye.
