06.03.2023
Chelsea are preparing for a decisive match at home against Borussia Dortmund in the framework of the European Champions League. Voices are rising calling for Potter to leave Chelsea after several poor results. Will the match be a kiss of life?
After he regained his balance something in the English Premier League, he is ready Chelsea For the decisive confrontation that he will play at home against Borussia Dortmund, Germany, tomorrow, Tuesday, in the second leg of the round of sixteen of the Champions League. Champions League Football, which will also witness tomorrow the Portuguese Benfica meeting with the Belgian Club Brugge.
The first-leg match against Chelsea ended with a 1-0 victory for Borussia Dortmund, and the only goal at that time was scored by Karim Adeyemi during the second half, and Chelsea did not succeed in responding, especially in light of the brilliance of goalkeeper Gregor Koppel.
Graham Potter is an optimist
And that result gave Chelsea coach Graham Potter some optimism about the team’s ability to turn the balance of the confrontation in his favor through the second leg in the British capital, London. But pressure increased on him Then, with disappointing results, continued.
Lost The defeat came to Borussia Dortmund in the first leg After three consecutive draws in the English Premier League. After the Dortmund match, Chelsea lost 0-1 to Southampton and 0-2 to Tottenham, prompting calls for Potter’s departure from coaching the team. Chelsea may have regained some balance with its 1-0 victory over Leeds United on Saturday, but this victory did not seem sufficient to satisfy the team’s fans.
So tomorrow’s game looks like the closest chance to save Graham Potter and get the team back on the right track again.
Chelsea, who won the Champions League in the 2020/2021 season, may derive some optimism from its record in the tournament. In the last seven times that Chelsea have been late in the first leg of the knockout rounds in the Champions League, they have qualified four times.
However, there is no doubt that the scoring aspect constitutes the most important challenge for Chelsea and its coach, Graham Potter, as the team has scored only five goals in the 12 matches it has played so far since the beginning of 2023 in all competitions.
The match looks like the closest chance to save Graham Potter and get Chelsea back on the right track.
Huge confidence in Borussia Dortmund
As for Borussia Dortmund, he is entering the match with tremendous confidence, after achieving eight consecutive victories in the German League, to finish second, by goal difference, behind Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga champions. Borussia Dortmund prepared perfectly for the Chelsea match by beating Leipzig 2/1 on Friday evening in the German League.
And at a time when Chelsea is suffering from a decline in the scoring side, Dortmund is living a period of glow in this aspect, as its matches during the current year witnessed great victories, including its victory over Freiburg 5/1 and Hertha Berlin 4/1.
However, there are doubts about the possibility of the brilliant goalkeeper Gregor Koppel participating in the ranks of Borussia Dortmund in tomorrow’s match, despite his travel with the team to London. Borussia Dortmund’s director of football, Sebastian Kehl, said: “We still don’t know if he can play tomorrow.”
Coppel was absent from the team’s ranks in the match against Leipzig after he complained of muscle problems during the warm-up process before the match, which raised concerns about the goalkeeper, who was absent for several weeks last year due to a similar injury.
The newspaper “Ruhr Nachrichten” reported on Sunday that “there is very little hope” for Coppel’s participation against Chelsea, after the first medical examinations. It is expected that Alexander Meyer, who took over Dortmund’s goal against Leipzig, will participate in tomorrow’s confrontation if Kopel is unable to participate.
Press reports say that there is very little hope for Coppel’s participation in the Chelsea match, after the first medical examinations
Benfica and Club Brugge… a confrontation that seems settled
And at Al-Nour Stadium in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, Benfica will meet Club Brugge in a confrontation that seems settled, after the Portuguese team won the first leg away from home 2-0.
Club Brugge kept a clean sheet for 50 minutes in the first leg, but then paid the price for defensive mistakes, and Benfica won with two goals scored by Joao Mario from a penalty kick and David Neres in the 51st and 88th minutes.
Benfica is entering the match with tremendous confidence, after winning all three matches it played in the Portuguese Premier League after facing Club Brugge, as Benfica occupies the top of the league, eight points ahead of its closest rivals, Porto, who are in second place.
As for Club Brugge, its next three matches, the first-leg match against Benfica, witnessed a draw, victory, and then a heavy defeat against Ostend 0-3 on Friday evening in the Belgian League.
A.H./H.H. (dpa)
