Football: Dortmund puzzled against Chelsea’s million team

Because the Londoners are traveling to the Ruhr area with three league draws in their luggage for the first leg on Wednesday (9 p.m. / ServusTV and Sky), the “Blues” are looking for a sense of achievement. BVB is completely different, who started the new year flawlessly with six wins.

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This is another reason why the self-confidence of the Dortmunders is high, the third in the German Bundesliga counts against the weakening table tenth of the Premier League. “It’s a game that has a 50 percent probability,” BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl was quoted as saying in the “kicker”. The ex-professional expects very close games, “but we can do it,” he added. After an autumn with weaknesses, coach Edin Terzic’s squad managed to turn the game around and Dortmund got back into the championship race three points behind FC Bayern.

Chelsea, on the other hand, are not really getting going under coach Graham Potter, in the last twelve competitive games the Londoners have only celebrated two wins. With just 23 goals in 22 league games, the 2021 Champions League winners also have one of the Premier League’s more benign attacking departments. In winter, Argentinian world champion Enzo Fernandez, Ukrainian Mychajlo Mudryk and Portuguese loanee Joao Felix, among others, were signed for more than 300 million euros. The trio were also included in the Champions League squad, while striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has to watch.

For Terzic, the new squad situation in London is a bit of a mystery. “It’s not easy to analyze the whole thing,” said the 40-year-old on Tuesday. “They lost key players, they brought in key players.” It’s hard to tell what lineup they’ll be in.

Terzic himself can fall back on ex-Salzburg player Karim Adeyemi, who was suspended in both the DFB Cup and the Bundesliga. However, BVB will have to do without Youssoufa Moukoko, the 18-year-old striker suffered a tear in the syndesmosis and is out of both games against the English.

Meanwhile, things were going much better for Chelsea in the “premier class”, in the group phase there were four wins in six games against Red Bull Salzburg. “They bought a high-quality team and good players in the winter,” Kehl warned. “Only the vote is not yet in all facets as you imagined.”

In the second Wednesday game, Bruges want to add another chapter to their own Champions League fairy tale. In the group stage, the Belgians outperformed two well-known opponents, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen, and now Benfica Lisbon are guests in the round of 16 first leg. However, since Bruges had disappointed in the championship and in the cup, coach Carl Hoefkens was fired shortly after Christmas. Under neo-trainer Scott Parker, there has only been one win in seven matches so far. Meanwhile, Portugal won their group ahead of star-studded Paris Saint-Germain and are top of the domestic league.

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