Chelsea Vs Borussia Dortmund Football Match Score 16 February 2023
Chelsea return to Champions League action this week as we travel to Dortmund to take on high-flying and in-form Borussia Dortmund, who are smack-dab in the thick of the Bundesliga title race and arrive to this game on the back of six straight wins in all competitions. They’ve yet to lose in 2023; we have to look for wins with a microscope.
Now, in years past, this would be the time for a classic Chelsea narrative turn: something like a 2-0 away win and a 1-1 home draw to advance to the quarterfinals. But we’re living in different times now, with different vibes. That said, our group stage campaign was fairly successful despite the inauspicious start, so maybe we’ll make an unlikely run. We do have the talent.
Speaking of talent, we were still missing the likes of Mateo Kovačić, Denis Zakaria, and Wesley Fofana this weekend, with Raheem Sterling also suffering a minor setback — it’s unclear if any of that quartet might be ready to feature on Wednesday. N’Golo Kanté and Christian Pulisic certainly won’t be ready, while Édouard Mendy and Armando Broja are working to longer timelines.
We were unable to register all of our new January signings as per competition rules, so we won’t be able to count on Benoît Badiashile, Noni Madueke, or David Datro Fofana. And of course Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who started all six of our group games, scoring twice, was deregistered as well, not that he’s come close to playing in recent weeks anyway.
The Blues have won just one of their nine post-World Cup matches despite heavy investment during the January transfer window. It’s a run that has left Chelsea ninth in the Premier League table and quickly trying to appease an angering fanbase.
They face a tough task against a Dortmund side in hot pursuit of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga title race and with six wins under their belt since the World Cup.
GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga – With Mendy still sidelined, Potter has no choice but to start Kepa, who has blown hot and cold.
RB: Reece James – Is now fully fit after increasing his minutes in recent weeks and should be good to go again on Wednesday. CB: Trevoh Chalobah – Benoit Badiashile was not registered for Chelsea’s Champions League squad, so Chalobah should come in alongside Thiago Silva. CB: Thiago Silva – Chelsea will need Silva’s leadership and experience in these tough times, especially in the heat of an away match against Dortmund.
LB: Marc Cucurella – Played his part in Chelsea’s goal against West Ham at the weekend but continues to frustrate with some misfiring passes and defensive mistakes. CM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek – Was solid against West Ham and his withdrawal in the second half suggests he’ll keep his place with the likes of Kante and Kovacic still out. CM: Enzo Fernandez – Provided an excellent pass for Joao Felix’s goal on Saturday. Chelsea will hope he can deliver that sort of quality again during the week.
RW: Noni Madueke – Made his first start for the club on Saturday and showed a couple of glimpses of what he’s capable of. Will look to continue that momentum here. CAM: Joao Felix – Put his awful debut behind him with a goal against West Ham, which should fill him with the confidence needed to help pull Chelsea out of the mess they’re in. LW: Mykhaylo Mudryk – Has shown plenty of promise in his first two games as a Chelsea player and will look to show what he can do in the Champions League.
ST: Kai Havertz – Had a goal disallowed on Saturday and is now three without finding the net. Needs to improve if he’s to keep his place in Potter’s starting XI for much longer. The comparisons were always going to prove irresistible. With each goal or assist, Borussia Dortmund’s latest English youngster has become “the next Jadon Sancho.”
Nevermind that Jamie Bynoe-Gittens predominantly operates on the opposite wing. That the 18-year-old went from London to Manchester before making his senior breakthrough at Dortmund is enough. And while Jude Bellingham, presumably in his final months wearing the yellow and black of the Bundesliga’s second-best team, will command most of the attention when Chelsea ’s humble billion-pound squad turns up at Westfalenstadion on Wednesday evening, they must also beware yet another player within their academy reach who ended up going elsewhere.
Bynoe-Gittens has become one of the Bundesliga’s breakout stars and having missed the entire group stage owing to injury, is primed for his Champions League debut at the knockout stages. As an eight-year-old, Bynoe-Gittens flitted between Chelsea and Reading before deciding to turn out for the Berkshire side from under-9 level until he turned 14 and was tempted north to Man City despite Arsenal also chasing his signature.
“At the start, I didn’t really believe it. I’m from a small town in the middle of nowhere. When they told me that they wanted me, I was just surprised, but thought that all the hard work I had put in was paying off,” he said in an interview with secretscout.co.uk. “It was an easy decision. I could have gone to Arsenal but I chose City because they were producing players like Brahim Diaz and Jadon Sancho back then.”
At City he made a near instant impact for the under-18 team – coming off the bench to score in a 5-2 win over Liverpool a couple of weeks after turning 15 – but, like Sancho, he headed towards north-west Germany in September 2020, where the path to regular senior football is better worn.
A dislocated shoulder sustained in September sidelined him for four months, but since returning in January his high-energy impact off the bench as opponents tire has won plenty of admirers.
Two more goals have arrived, including the opener away to Werder Bremen on Saturday a minute after coming on, and one gushing piece on the Bundesliga’s official website compared him to not just Sancho but Neymar. There is certainly no shortage of flair and trickery; the sort of daring, fearless play that is honed from playing unorganised, chaotic football in the playground.
