Borussia Dortmund host Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League tie on Wednesday hoping to have recaptured the elusive stability that has hampered their title chances in recent years. Dortmund, who limped into the winter break with two straight losses to fall nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich, come into the clash with six wins on the trot, having cut Bayern’s lead to just three. Crucial to this resurgence has been the return of several of the club’s key players from injury, not least star summer signing Sebastien Haller, who missed the first half of the season battling testicular cancer. BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl said on Monday that everyone at the club is thrilled to finally have the Ivorian back.”He’s a piece of the puzzle that we’ve unfortunately been missing for a long time. A fit Sebastien Haller not only enriches our team with his profile, but also with his personality. We have waited longingly for him, he has been working towards this for a long time… we’re happy that he’s back, and so is he.”Where to watch, predicted line-ups, expert predictions ✅Dortmund vs Chelsea: round of 16 preview 👇#UCL— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 15, 2023 Haller, 28, was signed to channel the club’s array of young, attacking talent — each of Youssoufa Moukoko, Karim Adeyemi, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Gio Reyna and Jude Bellingham are 21 or under — into goals. While the Ivory Coast striker, who underwent two operations and four bouts of chemotherapy, admits he is not back to full fitness just yet, Haller has already demonstrated his maturity and vision up front. Dortmund know all too well the damage Haller can do on European nights. The former Ajax striker scored two and assisted two more against Dortmund in the clubs’ group stage fixtures in last season’s Champions League, on his way to chalking up 11 goals in eight appearances. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7023780##Their opponents on Wednesday can also boast a squad of incredible quality, although Chelsea’s recent run has been anything but stable. The off-season spending spree at Stamford Bridge, which Kehl called “wild”, sent shockwaves across the continent, even among Europe’s biggest spenders. As yet, splashing the cash has failed to yield an on-field turnaround, with the club having won just one of their last eight matches in all competitions.The sides’ contrasting fortunes has meant Dortmund have surprisingly been given favourite status by some pundits and bookmakers. Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt spoke of the “euphoria” running through the team after the sixth straight win, while Kehl said the side had shown “we are a force to be reckoned with.”As has happened more and more often on the pitch recently, Dortmund’s 19-year-old midfielder Bellingham on Saturday urged calm among his teammates, quickly turned their focus to Wednesday’s match. “There’s no point looking at the run to be fair, as soon as you finish one game and get the right result, you need to move on and focus on the next one. Six in six (in 2023) in all competitions. Getting ready for Chelsea now and hopefully we will be going for seven in seven. As soon as you’ve got a run going, you don’t want to be looking in the past.”Chelsea may have spent over $603 million on new players, but their first season under new ownership will end without any trophies to show for it unless they can conquer Europe in the coming months. The Blues travel to Dortmund already out of both domestic cups and languishing 10th in the Premier League. Winning the Champions League for a third time could even by Chelsea’s best route back into the competition next season as they sit 10 points adrift of the top four in the English top flight.##NAJAVA_MECA_7023749##Graham Potter’s men have won just two games in their last 12 since European football shut down for the winter. Potter has had to juggle a lengthy injury list and bed in an avalanche of January signings, while also trying to maintain harmony in a bloated squad of 33 first-team players. ##EDITORS_CHOICE##The former Brighton boss has already had tough choices to make for the rest of his side’s European campaign. With only three new players allowed to be added to Chelsea’s Champions League squad and eight new signings, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Andrey Santos and David Datro Fofana have been left out, while Malo Gusto will spend the second half of the season back on loan at Lyon. But the three additions of Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez should add firepower and a creative spark to a side badly lacking in a goal threat.All three have commanded a $107 million fee at some point in their careers. Fernandez’s big-money move from Benfica last month broke the British transfer record just weeks after Mudryk was signed from Shakhtar Donetsk for an initial 70 million euros that could rise to 100 million.Dortmund vs Chelsea pic.twitter.com/BnZPaxgIMV— Football Ant (@SportsDT1) February 15, 2023 Felix failed to live up to his 126 million euro price tag in three-and-a-half years at Atletico Madrid, but has looked lively in the early days of his loan spell at Stamford Bridge either side of a three-game ban for a red card on his Premier League debut.A nine-game unbeaten run to start his spell in charge now seems a long time ago for Potter with the pressure ramped up to produce results, even if the bulk of Chelsea’s unprecedented level of spending has been on young players.”You can’t talk about the long-term because that doesn’t exist in this job. You have to acknowledge there’s a long-term but there’s a short-term and medium-term that is challenging for us in terms of results. We have to understand that, go to Dortmund with humility, with respect, and try to get the result.”Failure to do so and Chelsea’s American consortium of owners may turn to another manager to deliver a return on their investment. It may start tonight.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUERound of 16 – first legTuesdayMilan – Tottenham 1-0 (1-0)/Diaz 7/PSG – Bayern 0-1 (0-0)/Coman 53/Wednesday23.00: (4.50) Club Brugge (3.60) Benfica (1.90)23.00: (2.60) Dortmund (3.35) Chelsea (2.90)Tuesday, 21 February23.00: (2.25) Liverpool (3.40) Real Madrid (3.20)23.00: (3.05) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.35) Napoli (2.35)Wednesday, 22 February23.00: (4.60) RB Leipzig (3.60) Man.City (1.80)23.00: (1.85) Inter (3.50) Porto (4.40)***odds are subject to change
