Chelsea take a needed break from Premier League play to refocus on the return of the Champions League as they visit Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of ...
MORE: Jude Bellingham has been sensational in midfield, returning from World Cup action with England and bringing his stellar form with him.
Soccer expert Martin Green locked in his UEFA Champions League picks and predictions for Borussia Dortmund vs. Chelsea in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
- Borussia Dortmund vs. He has 17 career goals in 77 career appearances with the Blues and 53 career goals in his senior career. The 23-year-old forward from Germany leads the team and ranks 22nd in the league in goals with five. In the last four games, Chelsea have three clean sheets and have allowed only one goal. Copenhagen, Sevilla and Manchester City all failed to win at Westfalenstadion in this season's Champions League. His 1.38 goals per game average is the best of any of the top 50 Champions League goalscorers of all-time. Sébastien Haller excels in Champions League play. After working in the sports betting industry for several years, Green became a professional sports writer and handicapper and has covered the game worldwide. Borussia Dortmund will try to stay perfect in 2023 when the club hosts Chelsea in the first leg of a Round of 16 UEFA Champions League matchup on Wednesday at Westfalenstadion in Dortmund, Germany. A draw is priced at +225. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. These teams will play the second leg on March 7 in London.
Minute-by-minute report: Join Daniel Harris for all the latest news as Dortmund host Chelsea.
[Chelsea](https://www.theguardian.com/football/chelsea) pressure, Fernandez flicking the ball behind his own standing leg to make room for a shot … Oh, and I’ve just learnt that James was booked in the first half, so that’s half of Chelsea’s back four who need to be careful. 49 min Bellingham slides after the ball and past Chilwell, who goes down howling. [Chelsea](https://www.theguardian.com/football/chelsea) bench pursuing him, someone chucks the ball at Sule … 60 min Mudryk has space to run at Can and he fancies himself, but he picks the wrong line, taking ball too close to man, and is robbed. “George Harrison was 17 when he and his band mates shared a room on the naughtiest street in Hamburg. [Chelsea](https://www.theguardian.com/football/chelsea) lost, but it’s no kind of reach to think they’ll be a proper side in the not-too-distant future. And in sport how about a shout for Andy Farrell being not just Wigan but also GB rugby league captain by the age of 21? but he went early and the ball’s rolling towards the goal … But the ball loops off the turf, which allows James to get back at his man, and with help from Silva, he clears. 82 min Ryerson escapes down the right and swings over a cross towards Modeste. 90+2 min “As a neutral (Liverpool fan if you must),” says Colum Fordham, “I am enjoying Emre Can’s performance this evening, always in the right place at the right time.
Three changes have been made to the side which started the draw against West Ham at the weekend.
[Ben Chilwell](/en/teams/profile/ben-chilwell) on the left makes his first start since early November. [Kai Havertz](/en/teams/profile/kai-havertz), back in his homeland, will again lead the attack. [Kalidou Koulibaly](/en/teams/profile/kalidou-koulibaly) replaces [Benoit Badiashile](/en/teams/profile/benoit-badiashile) who is not in the Champions League squad.
Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea collide in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16 and the German giants are probably the favorites to advance.
[fired American coach Jesse Marsch](https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2023/02/07/jesse-marsch-fired-by-leeds-united/) without having a replacement lined up and if Skubala fares well, he could well become their manager for the final months of the season. QUESTIONABLE: Callum Wilson (thigh), Allan Saint-Maximin (knee), Miguel Almiron (knee). Interesting note: [Southampton beat Chelsea 2-1 earlier this season](https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2022/08/30/southampton-vs-chelsea-recap-saints-battle-back-beat-lifeless-blues-video-highlights/) and have matched up pretty well against the Blues in recent years. Everton are still in the relegation zone but are just one point behind Leeds and Dyche’s side look more organized and solid and everyone expects them to drag themselves out of the bottom three. [However, that deal for Marsch broke down](https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2023/02/15/reports-jesse-marsch-to-be-named-new-southampton-manager/) and now Ruben Selles is in charge on a caretaker basis as the assistant coach could well take over for the rest of the season. All of the focus at Chelsea is on scoring more goals and they have been so close to doing that in recent games. They didn’t take their chances in the first half at West Ham last weekend and were made to pay for that in the 1-1 draw, while Potter not starting a proper No. [humbling home defeat to 10-man Wolves last weekend](https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2023/02/11/southampton-vs-wolves-video-highlights-analysis-reaction/) and it looked like Jesse Marsch would be their next manager. All of the focus will be on Arsenal and how they respond to that home defeat, their first of the season, to Manchester City. Chelsea sit in 10th place in the table and are 10 points off the top four. All is not lost as they still have a game in-hand on City but Arteta has a big job on his hands to raise the confidence levels for this clash at Villa Park, and beyond. This is a big test for this new-look Chelsea side and they need their new signings to stand up and deliver.
Chelsea look to end a three-match winless skid as they travel east to take on Borussia Dortmund with UEFA Champions League play back underway.
Thu, Feb. [both English- and Spanish-language streams on fuboTV](http://www.fubo.tv/lp/soccer/?bgvideo=ucl.mp4&title=Watch%20UEFA%20Champions%20League&subinfo=Stream%20Live%20and%20On-Demand&priceline=Anytime,%20Anywhere%20on%20Any%20Device&cta=Start%207-Day%20Free%20Trial&irad=356367&irmp=1131770&sharedid=editorial). Weds, Feb. They sit third in the league table, just three points back of Bayern Munich. Tues, Feb. Wed, Feb. 20:00/15:00
Borussia Dortmund's teenage striker Youssoufa Moukoko has been ruled out of Wednesday's game with an ankle problem. Former West Ham striker Sebastien Haller ...
Get a report of the Borussia Dortmund vs. Chelsea 2022-23 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16 football match.
We need a bit of luck and the performance level we had tonight and just keep improving." We were pushing at the time and we were the better team," Potter said after the game. They had chances, but we were in control for the majority of the first half," said Dortmund captain Jude Bellingham. "They [players] know they can do better with that. [Gregor Kobel](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/238544/Gregor-Kobel) denying [Enzo Fernandez](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/285450/Enzo-Fernández) in stoppage time to see out the result. "In the second half we took the foot off the gas and they had more control.
Chelsea's 'comical' issue despite $947m spree as Blues cop massive CL blow in fiery war.
Meanwhile, Benfica closed in on booking their place in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Club Brugge in Belgium. Sule appeared to miss the ball in his lunging tackle. Chelsea must be wondering if some sort of voodoo forces are against them right now.” A Joao Mario penalty handed the Portuguese league leaders the lead six minutes into the second stanza, before David Neres doubled their lead in the dying minutes. The Blues bombarded the hosts in the second stanza, but simply couldn’t find the back of the net as their scoring woes continued. Dortmund speedster Karim Adeyemi struck in the 63rd minute on a brilliant counter-attack, racing the length of the pitch before rounding the keeper and rolling the ball into the net just 16 seconds after a Chelsea corner was taken at the other end.
Follow the action live as Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea return to Champions League action in the round of 16.
[DAZN](https://www.dazn.com/en-US/home?utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=sne&utm_campaign=campaign&utm_term=term&utm_content=1011l200898 Thomas Meunier is still returning from a muscle injury, while Mateu Morey has been out for most of the season with a knee injury. They'll hope that transfers to this competition, in which they won two of their group games and drew their final three to qualify for this stage behind Manchester City. They look suitably confident after such a good run here since almost the start of the season. Chelsea will find plenty of encouragement from these opening stages as they look to improve on four goals in their last eight games. This has been a breathless start to the game. Kalidou Koulibaly gets in the way of Karim Adeyemi's effort this time. Mykhailo Mudryk attempts to locate Kalidou Koulibaly with a neat pass inside the penalty area, only to see the flag go up. It's a valid point as Dortmund close in on an eighth win since the World Cup. This isn't a great game for any manager's nerves, but he'll surely be aware in the back of his mind that a draw would be a commendable result here. A royal rumble is taking place on the touchline near the technical areas. Thanks for following our live blog – we'll have a report and analysis at the top of this page shortly.
Our statistical analysis of a tight Champions League encounter with Borussia Dortmund looks at the partnerships starting to gather momentum around the pitch ...
His partnership in attack with The end result was a narrow 1-0 defeat, but it leaves the tie very much still in the balance ahead of the second leg at Stamford Bridge in three weeks’ time. [Havertz frustrated by draw with Borussia Dortmund](https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/havertz-shares-his-frustrations-from-dortmund-loss) [Watch the highlights from Signal Iduna Park](https://www.chelseafc.com/en/video/230215-ucl-dortmund-v-chelsea-2min-highlights-webapp) [Potter's verdict on a finely balanced Champions League tie](https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/potter-looking-forward-to-bridge-re-match-against-dortmund)
Borussia Dortmund edged past Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last 16 clash as Karim Adeyemi was the hero.
This is a big test for this new-look Chelsea side and they need their new signings to stand up and deliver. [February 15, 2023] [#BVBCHE] [pic.twitter.com/hscdNQzvVJ] [https://t.co/jakPYqQULq] [#TUChampions] [#BVBCHE] [pic.twitter.com/uGCF0xmQ9U] [#BVBCHE] [pic.twitter.com/xE9O5nnMUR]