Chelsea lost this Wednesday, February 15 against Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 first leg. Borussia was able to make the difference on the counter thanks to Karim Adeyemi despite only two shots on target out of fourteen.
After spending nearly 300 million euros last summer, the bosses of the Chelsea club did the same thing again this winter and spent the same amount, breaking the record for the biggest transfer in the Premier League (121 million euros) with the Argentinian world champion Enzo Fernandez. The Londoners have also signed João Felix, Mykhaïlo Mudryk, Benoît Badiashile, Andrey Santos, Datro Fofana and Noni Madueke and now find themselves with 42 players under contract.
While Chelsea are still waiting for the dividends of these investments in the league where they are still not taking off, with only four goals in seven games since January 1, the double winner of the Champions League (2012, 2021) hopes to reap the benefits. in C1 this season. Except that you have to be on top against Borussia Dortmund, currently third in the Bundesliga, three small points from Bayern Munich, after having chained five consecutive victories in the league and one in the German Cup.
And this Wednesday, on the lawn of Signal Iduna Park, Chelsea is far from sparking in the first 30 minutes, with no shots. Worse, captain Thiago Silva gets a yellow card using his left hand to send the ball into the net (17th). On the Dortmund side, the return of the Ivorian Sébastien Haller, after having treated testicular cancer, does not go unnoticed. The Elephant has the opener at the end of the shoe. Shifted to the right of the area by Brandt, Haller tries his luck just in front of the Senegalese Kalidou Koulibaly, but his shot fails in the small outside net (27th).
The fantastic ride of Karim Adeyemi
From this first period, we also remember the millimeter pass of the Moroccan Hakim Ziyech, semi-finalist of the World Cup in Qatar, for João Felix, who takes the ball in the area, but opens his right foot too much (31st). A few minutes later, the Portuguese striker hit the crossbar (38th) in front of the 80,000 spectators present at Signal Iduna Park and its famous Yellow Wall.
In the second half, the game was intense and open, and Dortmund found the net thanks to Karim Adeyemi who crossed half the pitch in a fantastic ride, defeated the Argentinian Enzo Fernandez, and won his duel against the goalkeeper of the Blues, by crocheting it. The ball flies into the empty goal (63rd).
Chelsea could have returned to England with a draw with the occasion of Koulibaly who takes his chance at the penalty spot. His powerful shot rushes towards the goal, but Emre Can wards off the danger with a decisive tackle just in front of his line (78th). Until the final whistle, Chelsea dared, but lacked success, in an unbridled end to the match, like this last strike from the Spaniard Marc Cucurella in stoppage time. Return match on March 7.
In the other game of the evening, Benfica Lisbon may have done the hardest part by bringing home a victory for Bruges thanks to goals scored by João Mario from the penalty spot (51st) and David Neres (88th). The Portuguese team, which completed the first phase at the top of Group H ahead of PSG, seems very well placed to qualify for the quarter-finals. Double winner of the event (1961, 1962), Benfica would thus reach this stage of the competition for the second year in a row.