Beaten in the round of 16 first leg by Borussia Dortmund (0-1), Chelsea managed to overthrow the German club on Tuesday at home (2-0). By reaching the quarter-finals, the Blues can still dream of saving their season.
Chelsea’s season is not yet a failure… Tenth in the Premier League, very far from the qualifying places for the Champions League, the London club managed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the C1, Tuesday March 7 , winning in their return match against Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge (2-0). Beaten in the first leg by the German club three weeks ago (0-1), the Blues did not start as favorites during this meeting and Graham Potter knew he was threatened.
The Chelsea coach, appointed in September in place of Thomas Tuchel, is disputed by Blues supporters. We can understand the latter: in the last twelve games, the club which won the 2021 edition of the Champions League had scored only four goals. To register two to qualify against Borussia Dortmund, co-leader of the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, therefore seemed to be a challenge.
Finally a bit of success for the Blues
Since the post-World Cup recovery, Chelsea had only scored more than one goal in the same match once, against Bournemouth on December 27 (2-0). The Blues finally got there, thanks to what Potter said Chelsea had been missing in recent weeks: a bit of luck. For once, a bit of success accompanied the Blues in a match, as on the first goal of Raheem Sterling, who did it in two stages when he had just missed his recovery (43rd).
Kai Havertz, author of the second goal from the penalty spot (53rd), has been, in recent weeks, the symbol of this lack of luck for the Blues. The German, criticized for his lack of efficiency, hit the post for the first time (28th), before finding it again on his first penalty attempt. But this round of 16 really smiled on Chelsea: a Borussia Dortmund player entered the box too quickly, the referee of the match had Havertz removed, who this time transformed him.
On the bench, Potter didn’t look at his player’s second attempt. The 47-year-old coach, who is discovering the Champions League this season and who has faced a large legitimacy trial since his arrival at Chelsea, was able to savor at the final whistle. And above all heave a big sigh of relief. If he was chosen personally by the new owners of Chelsea who arrived in the summer of 2022, eager to work with him over the long term, the club’s latest results did not bode well.
Chelsea and Benfica qualified first
“I feel the support from the players, from everyone here,” Potter had assured ahead of Saturday’s league win over Leeds (1-0), before adding that he also “the supportBut with the latter investing €330m in the January transfer deal, Chelsea’s performance – a win in the last eleven games – seemed to indicate Potter’s future hung in the balance on Tuesday. evening at Stamford Bridge.
Too far in the standings to seek continental qualification in the Premier League, eliminated from the two English cups, the Blues can see the Champions League as their last chance to save their season. On the eve of the encounter, Potter had carefully avoided questions suggesting a failed season in the event of an elimination against Borussia Dortmund. He did well: his team is the first to reach the quarter-finals of the competition with Benfica, who had fun in the other match of the evening against Bruges (5-1).