Chelsea have already been handed a huge blow ahead of the second-leg against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League round of 16. The Blues are set to welcome the German outfit to Stamford Bridge for the return fixture on March 7 as Graham Potter looks to claw back a one-goal deficit.
Against the run of play, Karim Adeyemi handed Dortmund the lead after gliding past Enzo Fernandez and slaloming around Kepa Arrizabalaga before slotting the ball into an empty net. It’s now all to play for in west London next month but Chelsea will be without a key player — Mason Mount.
Niklas Sule was issued a booking for a late challenge on the the 23-year-old in front of the home dugout. Mount, unhappy, with the tackle made his feelings known and a mass brawl broke out — he too was later shown a yellow card.
The Cobham graduate headed into the Dortmund clash as one of four Chelsea players with two bookings to his name and, therefore, just one yellow card away from a one-match ban. Kalidou Koulibaly, Conor Gallagher and Mykhailo Mudryk evaded suspension but Mount did not.
Potter will now be without the midfielder in the return leg. After picking up yellow cards in the first-leg, Thiago Silva and Reece James have joined Koulibaly, Gallagher and Mudryk on the brink of suspension.
All yellow cards expire after the completion of the quarter-finals and do not carry forward to the semi-finals. Speaking to the press after the Dortmund clash, Potter gave his verdict on Chelsea’s performance.
“Overall we were pleased with the performance for big parts of the games,” the Blues boss said. “It’s complicated away from home in the Champions League against a team in a good moment.
“It was an even first half, managed the game well, hit the bar. But apart from the one decisive action that we weren’t good enough, we controlled the second half. We deserved a goal.
“It’s half time, a tight game, but we looked forward to Stamford Bridge,” Potter added before dissecting Adeyemi’s opener. “It’s a poor goal and we have to do better.
“We were pushing at the time and were the better team. So to concede in that manner was disappointing. The players know they can do better and we have to help them. But we’ll focus on the positive because the performance was a step forward for us.”