Juan Mata has named Didier Drogba as the best team-mate he played alongside in the Champions League, while Lionel Messi is the Spaniard's most revered opponent.

Drogba, a legend at Stamford Bridge, scored the winning spot-kick in Chelsea's penalty shoot-out victory over Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League final.

It brought up Chelsea's first European crown, one they followed up nine years later by beating Manchester City 1-0 in Porto.

Drogba's coolly taken penalty was his memorable final contribution during his first stint at Chelsea, albeit he returned for a brief second spell in 2014.

Mata, who now plays for Galatasaray, had left for Manchester United by that time, but for him, Drogba will always be the former team-mate synonymous with big Champions League moments.

"If I think about the Champions League, and the times we played together at Chelsea, and when we won the competition, the first big man that comes to mind is Didier Drogba," Mata said in an interview with the Go Turkiye YouTube Channel.

"He scored the goal in the final, he scored the last penalty, he was a leader on and off the pitch, and he is definitely one of the best strikers of the last 20 or 30 years, so he has to be there. 

"He was very helpful to me during my time in London, and he comes to my mind when I think of the Champions League.

"I also have to mention John Terry, [Frank] Lampard, Wayne Rooney, [Robin] van Persie, and many other greats that I had the chance to play with.

"But when I think of Champions League and that final in Munich, it has to be Didier."

 When it came to the toughest opponent playmaker Mata has faced, there was only one player who came to mind.

"I'll have to go with Messi," Mata said. "I played against him in the Spanish league with Valencia, but also in the Champions League with Chelsea.

"I remember those semi-finals when we won it, and he missed a penalty, and he was very unlucky.

"But he is an unbelievable player, still playing at such a great level, we got to see what he did at the World Cup.

"I admire him, and it was a pleasure for me to play against him, hopefully we can play against each other again.

"For me, I have to say he is the one."

Hamit Altintop, who played for Bayern and Real Madrid, echoed Mata's sentiment, though it was not as easy for the former Turkey international to pick out an individual.

"Didier is a real leader on and off the pitch, I played with him in Galatasaray," he added.

"One of my friends asked me if I could make my best XI. In goal: Oliver Kahn, Manuel Neuer, Iker Casillas… These names are all unbelievable players that get mentioned if you talk about the Champions League.

"Iker Casillas is amazing, Cristiano [Ronaldo] the same, if you're talking about the Champions League, you have to mention Messi, of course. All of these names come to mind."

An Italian team is guaranteed to reach the Champions League final for the first time since 2017, when Madrid beat Juventus, with a Milan derby on the cards in the semi-finals.

Manchester City and Madrid face off in the other semi-final tie, and Mata pointed out it is not always the strongest team that goes on to win the competition.

"Sometimes in the Champions League, the best teams don't win, because it's not as long as a normal league, so sometimes you need a little bit of luck: a post, a save, a penalty or other things like that," the 34-year-old said.

"If you don't have mental strength, and if you don't all behave as one, you're not going to win. I felt like that is what happened with Chelsea at that time, we felt like it was meant to be, we felt that was the year.

"For me the mental aspect of football, sometimes it is undervalued, but for me it is key."

Didier Drogba can "no longer recognise" Chelsea as the former striker took aim at co-owner Todd Boehly for his handling of the club since taking over from Roman Abramovich.

Chelsea lost 2-0 to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday to exit the Champions League 4-0 on aggregate at the quarter-final stage.

The Blues are now winless in seven games in all competitions, losing five of those, and are down in 11th in the Premier League.

As a trophyless campaign peters to its end, Drogba – who won 12 major honours across nine seasons with Chelsea – criticised the club's current regime.

"I knew this club with a certain class during the Abramovich era, but today I find it lacking. It's very hard for me to see how they got rid of certain people," he told Canal+.

"They should go back to the principles and values they had. I no longer recognise my club."

Chelsea have spent more than £600million on new players since the new owners came on board last May and have already parted company with two head coaches.

The vast majority of those new recruits have yet to find their feet, with the Blues starting their second-leg tie against Madrid without a recognised striker.

"Bringing in players like Petr Cech, Andriy Shevchenko, Herman Crespo, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, I go on – it was done to win titles," Drogba added.

"They are players with a certain experience. The strategy is now different; we bet on young players. But a dressing room of over 30 players is difficult [to manage] for a manager."

Chelsea, under the caretaker management of Drogba's former team-mate Frank Lampard, have seven league games remaining in what has been a dismal campaign.

Lampard is expected to make way for a new permanent head coach at the end of the season, but he is more positive in his assessment of the future than Drogba.

"People will make a lot about this season for Chelsea because we've had so much success. The reality is this club's going to be back," Lampard said.

"We have to pick ourselves up. We have been fortunate to have success for 20 years. Many clubs in the Premier League would dream of our success.

"So this is a year where we are not quite where we want to be and there are reasons for the transition.

"A few years ago we didn’t make the Champions League one season and won the Premier League the next. We can't be too short term with it."

Chelsea return to league action next Wednesday with a London derby against Brentford at Stamford Bridge.

Didier Drogba has a target on his back as Chelsea youngster Armando Broja seeks to surpass his celebrated achievements.

Broja is enjoying a productive loan spell at Vitesse in the Eredivisie, with nine goals in 20 league outings making him the top-scoring teenager in Europe's top 10 leagues - the top flights in the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Belgium and Greece in addition to the established big five under UEFA's country coefficients.

The 19-year-old made his Chelsea debut last March, coming off the bench in a 4-0 win over Everton.

He hopes it will prove to be the start of a memorable career at Stamford Bridge, with hotshot Drogba the man he is aiming to eclipse.

"Nine goals and two assists is good but I am never satisfied," the Albania international told Goal. "I want to get more goals and assists to keep tallying them up.

"I have played over 1,000 minutes and I have 11 goal contributions. It is not bad but I want more goals and assists. I want to do more."

Broja explained how seeing the likes of Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard as he was coming up through the youth system at Chelsea provided inspiration.

And it is the Ivorian forward whose footsteps he wants to follow, with Drogba having scored 104 Premier League goals for the club, putting him second behind Lampard (147).

He said: "I was like: 'Wow! That's Frank Lampard, Drogba or John Terry right in front of me' when I would see them around.

"I loved to take pictures with them because I wanted to be them. I wanted to be in their shoes at the top level.

"Now I am approaching the age they were when they were playing, I want to try and surpass Drogba. It might not be easy, but that's my mentality and how I am feeling."

Broja's next chance to impress is in Tuesday's KNVB Beker semi-final against VVV-Venlo and, should he help his side into the final, he will doubtless want to emulate Drogba's exploits in showpiece matches.

Drogba scored nine goals in 10 finals for Chelsea, while in 2007 he became the first player to net the decisive effort in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals in the same season.

The powerful forward also made his presence felt on the European stage, scoring a club-record 36 Champions League goal to underline the scale of the challenge Broja has set himself.