Welcome to the live coverage of the Chelsea vs Borussia Dortmund Champions League match as Chelsea seek to turn their season around tonight at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues lost the first leg in Germany 1-0 thanks to a stunning counterattacking goal from Karim Adeyemi. Chelsea made the Round of 16 after topping Group E ahead of Milan, RB Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.
The Blues are currently mired in midtable in the Premier League making their Champions League run the last competition they remain alive in which might provide meaningful trophies..…CONTINUE READING
BVB made it to this stage after finishing second in Group G – behind Manchester City but ahead of both Sevilla and Copenhagen.
Graham Potter’s side at least go into tonight’s Stamford Bridge clash off the back of a victory, having edged past Leeds over the weekend.
The run now stands at three wins in 16 matches, with goals still a clear problem. Injuries continue to hurt Chelsea, with the likes of Thiago Silva and Mason Mount out, but Reece James is fit to start.
Dortmund meanwhile have won all 10 games they have played in 2023, leaving them level on points with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga. They arrive in London full of confidence, even if first-leg match-winner Karim Adeyemi is out injured.
Chelsea team news
Chelsea XI: Kepa; Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella; James, Fernandez, Kovacic, Chilwell; Sterling, Felix, Havertz
Subs: Bettinelli, Bergstrom, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah, Mudryk, Zakaria, Ziyech, Gallagher, Chukwuemeka, Hall
Dortmund team news
Dortmund XI: Meyer, Wolf, Sule, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro, Can, Ozcan, Bellingham, Brandt, Reus, Haller.
Subs: Kobel, Unbehaun, Reyna, Dahoud, Hummels, Modeste, Malen, Meunier, Passlack, Rothe, Bynoe-Gittens, Coulibaly
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Here we go!
Players are out onto the pitch, both sets of fans are right up for this.
Chelsea fans haven’t exactly been thrilled with life this season, but they’ve put that to one side. In fine voice tonight.
KICK-OFF!
Original delay not enough for the referee to get his microphone working, so another pause.
Thankfully it’s a brief one – we’re up and running on a huge night in west London!
2 mins: Dortmund straight on the front foot and they win a corner in the opening minute. Brandt over to take it.
Decent ball in, met with a scuffed shot that Chelsea are able to block and then clear. Pitch covered in yellow flag.
For those able to see it through it, they watch with frustration as Sterling is played in behind, stops, stands on the ball, looks around, pokes the ball straight at the goalkeeper. He knew he was offside and the flag eventually went up.
5 mins: That change has been made. Chelsea with a free-kick out wide in a good position.
James whips it in towards the back post, Koulibaly lurking but it’s flicked away by Wolf. Really good defending.
7 mins: Sharp from Felix, chops onto his left foot and into the box… shot is blocked as Meyer flies off his line. Corner Chelsea. That’s got the crowd up again, Potter urging them on.
Chilwell takes, Koulibaly does get on the end of it this time, heads wide. Entertaining start to the match!
9 mins: Havertz now in behind, gets a nudge as he fires the shot away and then sends him off balance. Blazes high and wide.
Brief concern for Chelsea as Felix goes down after turning awkwardly on the touchline. Looks to be back up and moving fine though.
12 mins: Plenty of space for Chelsea in transition, Kovacic makes a mess of the pass this time though just as Felix and Sterling were breaking away.
Dortmund happy to slow things down and just keep the ball when they’re in possession. No need for them to rush anything.
14 mins: Handball from Felix, Dortmund will bring the centre-backs up and launch this into the box.
Or not, taken short. Reus then does send the ball into the area, headed away though fairly comfortably. This is a decent spell for Dortmund, one that has halted that early Chelsea charge.
17 mins: Fofana gives away a silly free-kick, really dangerous position.
Reus one of those standing over it. He’s the one to take it… great save from Kepa! That was curling into the corner, Spaniard scrambles across and palms it away.
19 mins: Chelsea have barely had a kick in the last five minutes. That strong early spell feels a long time ago.
This is better, Havertz slides a pass through to Sterling. He looks to play in James out wide, but that’s a really poor ball.
22 mins: Midway through the first-half, Dortmund will be pretty happy with how it’s gone. So confident on the ball, Chelsea struggling to win it back.
Blues not really pressing high, content to just sit off for now. That will have to change at some point.
24 mins: Kovacic runs into Bellingham, as the Englishman wins it back for his side.
Ball played through to Reyna, he gets to the byline and fires it across the face of goal… nobody there for a tap-in. Reyna couldn’t have done more from there.
26 mins: Dortmund with more than 70% possession so far, been incredibly easy for them to pass it around.
Can down after a collision with Havertz, brief pause in play while he rolls around for a bit and ties his laces. He’ll be fine.
28 mins: OFF THE POST!
Chelsea so, so unlucky. Brilliant ball in from James, cleared out to Havertz just inside the box. He hits it first-time, doesn’t catch it particularly well but it hits the inside of the post, rolls across the line and out of play.
31 mins: Chelsea fans getting increasingly frustrated, as the referee gives a flurry of free-kicks to Dortmund. Needless fouls from the Blues.
Whipped into the box, Kepa off his line to punch it away. Felix looks to play Sterling away on the counter, Meyer quickly out to mop that up.
33 mins: Ball pinged out to Chilwell, first-time cross is cleared out to Kovacic who goes for a very ambitious volley. Would have been incredibly special, instead it’s incredibly harmless.
Chelsea do look dangerous when they come forward, just not happening enough at all.
35 mins: Good strength from Sterling out wide, holds Can off and wins a throw-in. Signs that Chelsea are just starting to enjoy a slightly better spell.
Would hardly know they’re at home from the chorus of boos that comes every time they have possession.
Felix tries his luck from 25 yards out, deflected wide for a corner.
36 mins: Chilwell having objects thrown at him as he takes the corner in front of the Dortmund fans.
Almost drops for Kovacic on the edge of the area, he throws himself at the ball but Reyna is there to hack it away to safety.
GOOO…. OFFSIDE!
Cruel from the linesman.
Felix lifts the ball over the top, Sterling looks to be comfortable offside but on we go. He’s in on goal, only the goalkeeper to beat but the effort is saved.
Comes out to Havertz, who curls a lovely finish into the top corner… and then the flag goes up.
40 mins: The lengths Chelsea go to in order not to score. Incredible.
Chilwell swings a free-kick in, Koulibaly completely free at the back post but somehow backheels it with the goal gaping in front of him.
Falls for Felix, his shot is blocked and Dortmund clear. Madness.
42 mins: Chelsea are flying now, Dortmund being cut open.
This time it’s played to Chilwell, completely free and running onto it. Slices the first-time shot miles wild. A bit of decent finishing and Chelsea would be 3-0 up here.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Borussia Dortmund | Raheem Sterling 43′
THEY’VE SCORED NOW!
At last! Chelsea break away down the left, cut back perfectly for Sterling. He makes a complete mess of the finish initially, but it goes nowhere so still there for him. At the second time of asking, he lashes the ball home.
45+1 mins: Chelsea don’t want half-time, the pressure is relentless.
Corner taken quickly, Kovacic then lifts it into the box and Havertz can’t keep the acrobatic effort down on the stretch.
Three minutes added on.
45+2 mins: Big, big defending from Chilwell.
Bellingham had poked a pass through, Dortmund with so many bodies forward and Reyna was nearly in, but Chilwell reads it well.
Maybe Chelsea do want half-time…
HT: Chelsea 1-0 Dortmund (1-1 agg)
That’s half-time. Chelsea ahead on the night, level on aggregate.
The Blues have had so many chances, thankfully for them some woeful finishing was eventually followed by Sterling’s goal.
Perfectly set up for the second-half!
Back underway!
Here we go again. Will another 45 minutes be enough to settle this tie?
47 mins: Nice turn from Sterling, and he fires it wide to Chilwell. He looks to clip the ball into the box, blocked and met with huge appeals for handball. Referee not interested.
Comes back to Kovacic, who tries his luck from 20 yards out on the swivel. Takes a big deflection and through to the goalkeeper.
48 mins: VAR checking this, fairly length check too. It’s all gone very quiet inside the stadium.
Well then, referee is over to look at the monitor. This could well be given, Chelsea very likely about to be awarded a penalty.
PENALTY!
Wolf the man to have handled it, as he turned away. Feels harsh.
It’s given though – Chelsea penalty!
HITS THE POST!
HAVERTZ MISSES!
Sends the goalkeeper the wrong way, penalty hits the inside of the post and it’s smashed away to safety.
Huge moment.
Retaken!
Or not!
Dortmund players in the box, it will be retaken. Back to you, Kai.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund | Kai Havertz 53′
SCORES THIS TIME!
At the second time of asking, Havertz puts Chelsea ahead in the tie. Goes for the same corner, this time it’s in.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund
55 mins: Dortmund pushing for an immediate response, as Bellingham drives forward.
Comes to Reyna on the edge of the area, curling effort looks to be heading for the top corner but Chilwell heads it away.
58 mins: Reyna into the box, lays it off to Bellingham. Worked wide to Guerreiro, who fires a cross towards the six-yard box.
Drops for Bellingham, six yards out and he somehow shanks the effort wide. Massive, massive chance.
62 mins: Chelsea have sat back a bit since the goal, not sure that’s their best bet. Dortmund looking fairly dangerous.
Reminder that there’s no away goals rule, so a Dortmund goal now would sent it to extra-time, rather than knocking the Blues out.
64 mins: Koulibaly almost ends up ten rows back as he flies in to head the ball into the stands. Nearly followed it into the crowd.
Ozcan is off for Dortmund, Bynoe-Gittens is on for the visitors. The 18-year-old was born in London, spent some time in the Chelsea academy.
65 mins: Another crucial save from Kepa!
It’s a lovely Dortmund move down the right, played to Wolf and he fires the shot across goal. Strong hand from Kepa, nobody there in a yellow shirt following it up.
That’s less impressive from the Spaniard. Yellow card for some timewasting already. Dear me.
67 mins: First change of the night for Chelsea. Gallagher coming on, Felix the man to make way. Potter very much looking to just see this out now, but there’s a long way to go.
With that VAR check and the penalty retake, got to think we’re looking at the best part of six or seven minutes added on already.
70 mins: Dortmund seeing plenty of the ball now, as you’d expect. Chelsea looking to sit back in a solid shape. Every blue shirt is within 25 yards of their own goal.
Can slides the ball through into the area, too many shirts there though and the door is slammed shut.
73 mins: Sule hammers a low effort towards the far corner, as he skips forward with very little pressure on him. Skids wide.
Dortmund fans still making plenty of noise behind that goal their side are attacking. Blues doing a decent job of slowing things down though.
78 mins: Fernandez into the book for a foul that gives Dortmund a free-kick in a dangerous position, just over 25 yards out.
Clipped into the box, headed away before Kovacic completes the job more convincingly.
Replays of that Sterling offside show it was incredibly tight. About a toe beyond the last defender.
80 mins: Ten minutes to go. Still Chelsea stand firm.
That helps too, Bynoe-Gittens runs it straight out of play. Safe to say Kepa is not exactly sprinting across to retrieve the ball.
82 mins: Sterling and Kovacic coming off for Chelsea, as Kepa gets the armband.
Pulisic is on against his former club, while Loftus-Cheek is also introduced in midfield.
84 mins: Chelsea barely touching the ball now, but all of Dortmund’s possession is in midfield and at the back. Struggling to find a way through the mass of blue shirts.
The hosts have it here, Loftus-Cheek is away on the counter… apparently not. Referee pulls it back for a foul on Reyna, about 10 seconds after it happened.
85 mins: That’s a poor decision from the referee, basically no contact.
Not that it matters, free-kick drops for Chilwell at the back post and he thumps it up the pitch and out of play on the halfway line.
88 mins: Potter focusing all his subs on freshening up the midfield. Zakaria is on for Fernandez.
Reyna with so much time on the left, takes an age before clipping a cross straight at James. Real waste that.
90 mins: Pulisic through on goal, poor finish is sent wide. Not that it matters, offside flag then goes up.
Six minutes added on! Could easily have been more, for all there are groans around Stamford Bridge.
90+2 mins: Chilwell gets into a shoving match, which is definitely because he’s annoyed and not because he’s just trying to waste time. Not at all. Nope. Wolf falls for it.
Potter urging his side to keep the energy levels up, with four minutes to go. Almost there…
90+5 mins: Dortmund goalkeeper… goalkeeper is up! Here we go.
Cleared out to Can, worked wide. Crossed back in, Meyer is lurking but it drops for Wolf instead. Decent chance, but Fofana launches himself in the way and the shot deflects through to Kepa.
90+6 mins: That should be that. Wolf decides to clean out Chilwell and that’s as obvious a free-kick as you’ll see. Doesn’t stop the Dortmund man complaining.
Bellingham then has a couple of attempts at dragging Chilwell to his feet. Left-back doesn’t really appreciate that.
FT: Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund (agg 2-1)
Chelsea are through to the Champions League quarter-finals!
Not particularly pretty in the second-half, but they don’t care one bit. Goals from Sterling and Havertz send the Blues through.
Biggest night of Potter’s time in charge.
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