Chelsea survives in the Champions League – Sport – Kommersant
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The first tickets to the quarter-finals of the Champions League were issued by Chelsea and Benfica. Londoners in the home match with Borussia scored two unanswered goals, which allowed them to win on aggregate – 2:1. The Lisbon team confidently dealt with Brugge at home – 5:1, and taking into account the first game they took out the opponent with a score of 7:1.
Before the return match of the 1/8 finals with Borussia, almost all hands were against Chelsea. The Graham Potter team never managed to overcome the crisis. Yes, the other day she finally won the English Championship, but modestly defeated the modest Leeds – 1:0. That is, the problems with the attack have not gone away, and the Londoners have recently been literally grinding out goals. Borussia, on the contrary, was on the rise and brought the series of victories in 2023 to 10 in 10 meetings, having recently beaten Champions League play-off participant RB Leipzig in the national championship. Even the losses due to injuries of young offensive leaders Youssouf Mukoko and Karim Adeyemi did not unsettle Dortmund.
For Chelsea, there was probably only a factor of his own field. Plus, the English giant gave Borussia a very slight head start, losing only 0:1 away. And the fact that with such a selection of performers he would never score in two matches at all was still hard to believe. In addition, the opponent had a forced replacement of the goalkeeper, and instead of the first number Gregor Kobel, the goal was defended by Alexander Mayer, who had never performed at such a high level.
The reserve goalkeeper of Borussia, apparently, experienced a certain jitters and hesitated at the exit, when Raheem Sterling ran one on one with him. True, the Chelsea striker delayed the decision and failed to manage the moment.
However, it was not without trouble for the guests. Already in the fifth minute, they had to remove Julian Brandt, who had pulled a muscle, from the game, and this is one of the leading players in the German club. Immediately, Juan Felix went to escalate in the penalty area, but Mayer showed that he had coped with the starting excitement, and with a selfless throw to the feet, he stopped the Portuguese’s breakthrough.
Then Kai Havertz dangerously broke through to Mayer’s goal, nevertheless, Dortmund withstood the debut onslaught of the hosts and could themselves open an account from the “standard”, which was performed by Marco Reus. A twisted shot by the captain of Borussia in a spectacular jump parried Kepa Arrizabalaga. Although Chelsea no longer had the advantage, they almost managed to get the most out of an ordinary attack with a cross into the box. Havertz ambushed the rebound and treacherously struck with a rebound from the lawn, but the bar helped Mayer. Then the Londoners were out of luck again when Havertz’s beautiful goal was canceled due to offside. And soon Chelsea central defender Kalidou Koulibaly unwittingly saved someone else’s goal, trying to close the excellent supply of Ben Chilwell. As a result, the ball still bounced back to his own, but Felix landed close to Mayer.
And yet, having sharply increased the pace in the final segment of the first half, the blues achieved success.
Chilwell’s cross from the left found the addressee in Sterling’s face. At first it seemed that he would ruin the moment, because he didn’t hit the ball with his first touch, and then he barely beat the opponent in the “tyr-pyr” style, but at the end of the episode he did everything right, hitting over Mayer. Moreover, for Chelsea, not only did the first half end well, but the second one also began. Chilwell, while serving into the box, touched the arm of Marius Wolf, which, according to the VAR team, increased body area. Chief referee Danny Makkeli agreed that this was a violation of the rules, and awarded a penalty. Havertz, however, made Stamford Bridge worry and loaded it into the post. However, VAR again intervened in the matter, which recorded that the Borussia players ran into the penalty area before the kick. Havertz was given a second opportunity to realize the 11-meter shot, and now the German did not miss.
The score 2:0 brought Chelsea to the quarter-finals, and Dortmund, of course, had to go ahead in order to try at least to transfer the match to extra time. And Jude Bellingham could restore the balance on the sum of two meetings, but missed the target, punching from close range. And more such chances to score guests were not given. It is the hosts who excelled in the counterattack, even if their next goal was canceled due to a microscopic offside. The main thing is that Chelsea competently played to zero from behind. The final assault on Borussia did not lead to anything either. Unless Wolf could rehabilitate himself for a penalty, but the ball after his hit with a rebound flew into Kepa’s hands.
In another confrontation of the 1/8 finals between Benfica and Brugge, after the Portuguese club won 2-0 on the road, it was not at all up to the deal. Everyone in Lisbon has already been “brought out” to the next round, and another scenario was simply not considered because of its unrealizability. As expected, at home they confirmed their complete superiority over the Belgian team and defeated it – 5:1. Double marked striker Goncalo Ramos.
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