FORM GUIDE
Chelsea
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WLLLDD
Where they stand: 10th in Premier League
Dortmund
Form (all competitions, most recent first): WWWWWW
Where they stand: 2nd in Bundesliga, German Cup quarterfinals
Chelsea welcome Borussia Dortmund to Stamford Bridge facing a first-leg deficit as their Uefa Champions League round of 16 tie concludes in west London.
The first leg – the first ever meeting between the teams – was settled by a solo strike from Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi three minutes past the hour, giving the German side the edge as they look to reach a second quarterfinal in three seasons.
Dortmund are in the last 16 for the eighth time in 11 seasons, while this is Chelsea's eighth successive Uefa Champions League campaign to have stretched into the knockout rounds.
While Dortmund were second in Group G behind Chelsea's domestic rivals Manchester City, drawing half of their six games, Chelsea recovered from taking only one point from their first two fixtures to finish three clear at the top of Group E thanks to four successive victories.
This is one of only two round of 16 ties in which the clubs' paths had never previously crossed, Club Brugge-Benfica the other.
FORM GUIDE
CHELSEA
This is Chelsea's fourth successive Uefa Champions League campaign and 19th overall, taking them level with Arsenal and behind only Manchester United (24) among English clubs. They have twice won the trophy, in 2012 and, under former Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel, in 2021.
All but one of Chelsea's 19 Uefa Champions League campaigns have extended into the knockout rounds – the sole exception in 2012/13, when they became the only holders to fail to survive the initial group stage, although they had the consolation of going on to win the Uefa Europa League.
Chelsea's 2021/22 campaign was ended in the quarterfinals by Real Madrid. Having finished second in Group H behind Juventus, the Blues beat LOSC Lille home (2-0) and away (2-1) in the round of 16 but bowed out in the last eight against the eventual winners (1-3 h, 3-2 a aet) having let slip a three-goal lead in the second leg.
This season, the Blues opened with a 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, a result that prompted the departure of Tuchel. His replacement Graham Potter began his reign with a 1-1 draw at home to Salzburg before Chelsea embarked on a run of four straight wins, including home (3-0) and away (2-0) against AC Milan and, on Matchday 6, a 2-1 home victory against Dinamo that was their 100th in the Uefa Champions League – making them only the sixth club to reach a century.
The first leg of this tie was only Chelsea's seventh defeat in their last 37 Uefa Champions League matches (W23 D7).
Chelsea have won ten of their last 18 European matches at Stamford Bridge (D5 L3), last season's reverse against Madrid ending a run of six straight victories, all with clean sheets.
The London club were third in the Premier League in 2021/22, their highest finish since 2018/19, and finished as runners-up to Liverpool in both the FA Cup and the English League Cup, losing both goalless finals in a penalty shoot-out. They did, however, win both the Uefa Super Cup – beating Villarreal on penalties in Belfast in August – and, for the first time, the Fifa Club World Cup, Kai Havertz scoring the extra-time winner from the penalty spot in the final against Palmeiras of Brazil.
Chelsea's record in the Uefa Champions League round of 16 is W10 L6. After four successive losses at this stage they beat Atlético de Madrid in 2020/21 (1-0 a, 2-0 h) and LOSC Lille last season.
Chelsea's last games against a German club before this tie came in the 2019/20 Uefa Champions League round of 16, when they lost 3-0 at home and 4-1 away against eventual winners Bayern München.
That was Chelsea's first aggregate loss in two-legged knockout contests against German clubs having won the previous three, including beating Eintracht Frankfurt in the semifinals of their victorious 2018/19 Uefa Europa League campaign, the Blues going through on penalties after two 1-1 draws.
The 2020 defeat by Bayern ended Chelsea's unbeaten home run against German visitors; they had won six of the first nine encounters.
The Blues have won eight of the 14 Uefa competition ties in which they had a first-leg deficit to overturn at Stamford Bridge, but lost the most recent, against Paris Saint-Germain at this stage of the 2015/16 Uefa Champions League (1-2 a, 1-2 h). They have won all three of the ties in which they lost the away first leg 1-0, most recently against Steaua Bucure?ti in the round of 16 of their victorious Uefa Europa League campaign in 2012/13 (3-1 h). In all three cases, they won the second leg by a two-goal margin.
Chelsea's record in seven Uefa penalty shootouts is W3 L4:
1-4 v Liverpool, 2006/07 Uefa Champions League semifinal
5-6 v Manchester United, 2007/08 Uefa Champions League final
4-3 v Bayern München, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League final
4-5 v Bayern München, 2013 Uefa Super Cup
4-3 v Eintracht Frankfurt, 2018/19 Uefa Europa League semifinal
4-5 v Liverpool, 2019 Uefa Super Cup
6-5 v Villarreal, 2021 Uefa Super Cup
DORTMUND
This is Dortmund's 17th participation in the Uefa Champions League proper, and a club-record seventh in succession. European champions in 1997, they were beaten by Bayern München in the 2013 final.
In 2021/22 Dortmund finished third in their section behind Ajax and Sporting CP, the first time they had failed to reach the knockout rounds since 2017/18. BVB won three of their six games but defeats in the other three left them on nine points, behind Sporting on head-to-head record.
Under coach Marco Rose, Dortmund moved across to the Uefa Europa League but their campaign proved short-lived, eventual runners-up Rangers eliminating them in the knockout play-offs (2-4 h, 2-2 a).
Dortmund finished second in the Bundesliga to Bayern for the third time in four seasons in 2021/22 and in May replaced Rose with Edin Terzic, who had preceded him as interim head coach between December 2020 and June 2021.
Terzic oversaw a group campaign in which Dortmund again picked up nine points from their six games – the fewest of all 16 qualified teams. Five of those were gained at home thanks to a 3-0 win against Copenhagen and draws against Sevilla (1-1) and Manchester City (0-0). A 2-1 loss in Manchester was their sole defeat.
The Matchday 4 win at Sevilla is one of only eight Dortmund victories in their last 28 European away matches (D6 L14), although all of those wins have come in their last 20 (D2 L10).
Dortmund beat Sevilla 5-4 on aggregate in the 2020/21 round of 16 (3-2 a, 2-2 h), making their record at this stage W4 L3.
BVB have lost seven of their 15 matches at this stage of the Uefa Champions League (W6 D2). Dortmund were unbeaten in their first two away matches in the Uefa Champions League round of 16 (W1 D1), but had lost four in a row before their 2021 win at Sevilla.
The first leg was only Dortmund's fourth win in their last 17 knockout phase matches in Uefa competition (D4 L9), the success at Sevilla their only away victory in that sequence.
This season's goalless draw against Manchester City ended the German club's eight-game losing streak against English clubs. The first leg of this tie was Dortmund's first win against Premier League opposition since a 2-1 victory at Tottenham in the 2015/16 Uefa Europa League round of 16 second leg; their record in between those two wins was D2 L8.
Dortmund have lost on six of their last seven trips to England and ten of their 15 games away to English clubs overall (W4 D1).
BVB lost 2-1 away and at home to City in the 2020/21 Uefa Champions League quarterfinals. That made their record in two-legged knockout ties against English clubs W3 L4; they have lost the last three.
Dortmund lost the last tie in which they recorded a home first-leg win, against Paris in the 2019/20 Uefa Champions League round of 16 (2-1 h, 0-2 a). That was the 19th Uefa competition tie in which they won the first home leg, and only the second aggregate defeat. The successes include three ties in which the home first leg finished 1-0, all against British clubs: Celtic in the 1992/93 Uefa Cup second round (2-1 a), Motherwell in the 1994/95 Uefa Cup first round (2-0 a) and Manchester United in the semifinal of their victorious Uefa Champions League campaign in 1996/97 (1-0 a).
Dortmund's record in Uefa penalty shoot-outs is W2 L2:
6-5 v Auxerre, 1992/93 Uefa Cup semifinal
3-1 v Rangers, 1999/2000 Uefa Cup third round
2-4 v Club Brugge, 2003/04 Uefa Champions League third qualifying round
3-4 v Udinese, 2008/09 Uefa Cup first round
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
It was a case of déjà vu for Chelsea in Germany as they failed to find a way past an inspired Gregor Kobel, despite registering 21 attempts at the opposition goal. A more clinical performance at Stamford Bridge might be enough to see them over the line in this last-16 tie, but Edin Terzic's young team have been in magnificent form since the turn of the year and will be confident of rubber-stamping their place in the quarterfinals.
WHAT THE COACHES SAY
Graham Potter, Chelsea coach: "The position we are in, you should always welcome the pressure. It means you are in a fantastic situation to compete for the last eight. I'm just thinking about how important it is for the team and club to get to the last eight. We're playing against a top opponent and it's a huge challenge, but at the same time what an opportunity."
Edin Terzic, Dortmund coach: "[Goalkeeper] Gregor [Kobel] has been receiving treatment in Dortmund for the last two days. He has felt better every day. We will work with him and decide after the [Tuesday training] session if he can play. After this game, we want to be among the eight most successful teams in Europe this season."
LINEUPS
Chelsea: Kepa; Chalobah, Koulibaly, Fofana; James, Kovacic, Fernández, Chilwell; Mudryk, João Félix, Havertz
Out: Broja (knee), Mendy (finger), Mount (suspended), Thiago Silva (knee), Kanté (hamstring)
Doubtful: James (hamstring), Azpilicueta (concussion)
Misses next match if booked: Gallagher, James, Koulibaly, Mudryk, Thiago Silva
Dortmund: Kobel; Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Can, Salih Özcan; Brandt, Bellingham, Reus; Haller
Out: Adeyemi (thigh), Duranville (thigh), Kamara (knee), Morey (fitness), Moukoko (ankle), Ryerson (suspended)
Doubtful: Kobel (muscular), Malen (ankle)
Misses next match if booked: Can, Salih Özcan