Champions League tip preview: Dortmund looking to add to Chelsea's woes

Sergiu Baltuta
15 February 2023

With Chelsea's season falling apart at the seams, Tipstrr football expert Sergiu Baltuta weighs up their chances of salvaging their campaign in a tricky Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund.

Borussia Dortmund also endured a forgettable first part of the season that involved many ups and downs, especially in the Bundesliga where they finished 2022 down in sixth place.

However, the new year has brought better form, and they have won all of the six games played so far to put them back in the title race, where they sit third in the league table, only three points behind the leaders Bayern Munich.

They are primed for an extended run in the Champions League as well, after reaching the last 32 without too many problems, qualifying from a challenging group that also contained Manchester City, Sevilla and Copenhagen.

Edin Terzic's team even fought for top spot at one point, and only lost narrowly 2-1 at eventual group winners Manchester City after leading 1-0, while at home they managed a goalless draw.

Considering Dortmund are again facing a Premier League team, most eyes will be on Jude Bellingham, especially with teams like Manchester City and Liverpool among those lining up to sign him.

The England international is without a doubt Borussia Dortmund's star player, with the 19-year-old midfielder scoring four goals in 19 Bundesliga appearances and another four goals in five Champions league outings.

Moreover, Bellingham has won more duels than any other Bundesliga player this season and his battle in the midfield with World Cup sensation Enzo Fernandez should be enthralling.

It's worth adding that Dortmund have scored at least two goals in every game they played in 2023, while their last home game ended in a dominant 5-1 win against Freiburg.

Meanwhile, Chelsea's season has developed into something of a nightmare for new boss Graham Potter, whose side sits only in ninth place in the premier league table, 10 points behind the Champions League spots and also with early eliminations from the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

That leaves the Champions League as their only realistic hope of salvaging anything from this season.

In the group stage, even though they started with defeat away against Dinamo Zagreb (0-1) Chelsea still won the group with few problems.

Much has changed at Stamford Bridge since their campaign began, with Thomas Tuchel replaced as head coach, and the squad undergoing significant changes in the January transfer window.

The Londoners signed eight players and some of them, like Joao Felix, Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk, have already been integrated into the starting eleven.

While Dortmund have enjoyed only wins in the last few weeks, Chelsea come into this game off the back of three consecutive draws in the Premier League, 0-0 against Liverpool and Fulham and 1-1 at West Ham United last weekend.

This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams, with Chelsea undefeated in the last five Champions League games, and they conceded just four goals in their six group games, while Dortmund conceded just one more.

With so much of Chelsea's season now resting on an extended Champions League run, this has the makings of an enthralling tie, as Dortmund are bound to have other ideas.