- Thanks to a 2-0 home win in the second leg of the round of 16, Chelsea throws Borussia Dortmund out of the Champions League.
- The “Blues” turn the 0: 1 mortgage from the first leg.
- A repeated and initially missed penalty by Kai Havertz shortly after the break was decisive.
- In Tuesday’s other game, Benfica don’t show any trouble with Brugge.
It was an emotional roller coaster before the scene that ultimately decided Chelsea’s progress. Seconds after the break, Ben Chilwell’s cross was deflected by BVB right-back Marius Wolf in the penalty area, referee Danny Makkelie slipped the scene.
But that’s what VAR is for. This switched on and Makkelie came to the verdict penalty on the screen. Kai Havertz ran against the club from his homeland, looked at Dortmund’s Kobel substitute Alexander Meyer and hit the ball on the post. It remained 1-0 (1-1 including the first leg).
However, Makkelie again missed a crucial detail. 4 to 5 Dortmunders ran into the penalty area too early, including Salih Özcan, who then cleared. After VAR intervened, the penalty was repeated and Havertz showed nerves of steel, this time scoring the penalty exactly as he had wanted before.
Chelsea’s first half
Chelsea dominated the game, especially in the first half. The conspicuous Havertz hit the post from the back in the 28th minute before the German scored a goal 10 minutes later via the underside of the bar. But this did not count, Raheem Sterling had previously been offside.
Sterling, recovering from injury, soon made up for his mistake. After a cross, he wanted to finish straight away, didn’t hit the ball properly and was lucky as a result, Reus was unsuccessful in his intervention. The Englishman was able to transform from 11 meters to 1-0. The total score, it was balanced again.
Dortmund’s second half
In the second half after the 2-0 BVB got into the game better and through Jude Bellingham had their best chance (58th). After a deflected cross, he could only tip the ball next to the goal from the best position. The Londoners themselves recorded another offside goal from Conor Gallagher in the 76th minute – again Sterling had started too early.
The BVB final offensive gave Bellingham a chance to head the ball and a shot from the crowd by Wolf. But even these attempts were too harmless and not compelling enough. It remained 2-0 and Chelsea were rightly among the top 8 in the Champions League.
Kobel’s absence
Blaming everything on the injury-related absence of Swiss keeper Gregor Kobel would be presumptuous. But the 25-year-old from Zurich played a key role in the 1-0 win in the first leg. He made 8 saves and helped his team to victory. He missed the second leg due to muscular problems. On the other hand, Denis Zakaria made a brief appearance.
Here’s how to proceed
Chelsea/Dortmund will meet in the quarter-finals in the draw on Friday, March 17th. In the Champions League, the remaining round of 16 second legs are scheduled for Wednesday and next week.