It’s all to play for tonight at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League round of 16 tie between Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund. The visitors hold a slender 0-1 lead, courtesy of Karim Adeyemi’s fine solo goal at Signal Iduna Park, but are not renowned for their exploits on British soil, so Chelsea will feel they are well-placed to overhaul them.
For Graham Potter and co scoring goals has bedevilled their season – even in Dortmund it could be argued they created the better chances but saw poor finishing, great saves and the woodwork conspire against them.
It seems unthinkable that Chelsea could be dumped out here and struggle to qualify for next year’s competition, but that is how the cards are falling – certainly on the latter (the Blues currently sit 10th in the Premier League, 11 points behind fourth-placed Spurs).
To be in with a shout, the Stamford Bridge crowd really needs to get behind and drive them forward. Dortmund cannot rely on the injured Adeyemi’s pace up top, so former Hammer Sebastien Haller leads the line with Bellingham, Reus and Brandt pulling strings for the visitors in the half spaces behind. Any errors from Chelsea tonight will likely be terminal to their aspiration of progression.
UEFA Champions League: Chelsea v Borussia Dortmund
Tuesday at 7.00 pm on BT Sport 1.
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