The return leg of the Champions League round of 16 games is tonight. German side orussia Dortmund travel to London to face Chelsea and hope to keep their one goal advantage. Whilst Dortmund only need a draw to reach the quarter finals, Chelsea have to win to have any chance of advancing. In tonight's other match, Benfica welcome Belgian side Club Brugge. The Portuguese side won the first leg 2-0 away from home and it is up to Brugge to step up their level if they don't want to be knocked out.
Chelsea v Dortmund (Stamford Bridge; 0-1)
Chelsea will come into this fixture trailing by a goal after losing the first leg away at Dortmund. Graham Potter's men will have the home support to help them push for victory and hopefully qualification to the quarter finals.
It is the same old story for the Blues in the league. Despite a welcome win against Leeds at the weekend, their hopes of playing in a European Cup next season are slowly getting out of reach. They still have to play the big teams such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Chelsea's manager Graham Potter yesterday said that they are "really looking forward" to this clash. He also added:
It’s a big game, an exciting game against a top opponent. We want to be positive, to win the game and to go through.
When mentioning their opponents, he stated:
They are in a fantastic vein of form. Just see their results in the Bundesliga where they are winning constantly. That tells you they are doing a lot well. They have good individuals and it will be a good challenge
Meanwhile Dortmund are surging. With 11 games left in the league, Dortmund have a strong chance of winning both Bundesliga and domestic cup.
The German team narrowly defeated Chelsea three weeks ago in the first leg of the round of 16. Karim Adeyemi's goal was the decider and they now will travel to England with that one goal advantage.
Gregor Kobel has traveled with the Borussia Dortmund squad for their #UCL clash against Chelsea but remains a major doubt. Karim Adeyemi has not made the trip to London. #BVB https://t.co/RlCsRM83y7
— BVB Buzz (@BVBBuzz) March 6, 2023
Benfica v Club Brugge (Estadio da Luz, 2-0)
The Portuguese side is in a powerful position to advance to the next round. Only Real Madrid has had a better result out of all the teams in the round of 16 with a 5-2 victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Benfica won the first leg away from home at the Jan Breydel stadium in Brugge. They will have a comfortable 2 goals advantage tonight at home with their own fans behind them. However they should still concentrate on this game as it is still a soccer game at the end of the day and everything is possible. The last thing they should do is entering this match thinking they already qualified to the quarter finals.
In the domestic league, Benfica are running away alone at the top of the table. They are undefeated in nine league games. With eleven matches left in the Portuguese league, Benfica has an eight point lead over second placed Porto. If nothing calamatious happens, Roger Schmidt's men will easily win the league.
When Scott Parker accepted the job as Club Brugge's manager, he may not have expected to be this hard. He has only won two out of the ten games he has been in charge with them in the league and he lost the only Champions League game he's team played.
Sitting fourth in the Belgian league, 21 points of first placed Genk, Club Brugge has abandoned their goal of winning the league. They will have to fight for a Europa Conference league spot for next season.
On the injury side, Scottish defender Jack Hendry and Danish winger Andreas Skov Olsen are the only two players ruled out for this game due to injury.
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