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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Jake Polden

Chelsea vs Dortmund clash delayed after team bus arrives late to ground

Chelsea's Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund was delayed by 10 minutes after the away side's team bus arrived late to Stamford Bridge.

German giants Dortmund arrived half an hour later than they intended to on Tuesday night due to heavy traffic around the stadium for the second leg of their last-16 clash.

Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic confirmed the bus was stranded just outside the stadium in Fulham for around 15 minutes, which disrupted their preparation. The German admitted that he was not too concerned that this would impact his side, though.

He told BT Sport: "We had a bit of a delay, but now we are here and we are ready we are going to fight for the next round.

"We didn't know if we were going to start on time or if there was going to be a delay to the kick-off. We've been in front of the stadium for 15 minutes, so it's been disturbing a lot, but this won't stop us today."

Dortmund go into the second leg with a 1-0 aggregate lead after they beat Graham Potter's Blues at Signal Iduna Park.

Dortmund stars were seen training on a £1,000-an-hour hired pitch in London prior to their crunch clash with Chelsea.

Dortmund's English midfielder Jude Bellingham warms up at Stamford Bridge (IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)

Dortmund initially trained at Chelsea's ground on Monday night in preparation for the game but warmed up at the Artillery Ground in Islington on Tuesday.

Situated around 20 minutes from St Paul's Cathedral, the private venue belongs to the Honourable Artillery Company and is also associated with the British Army.

Potter has brought Marc Cucurella back into his Chelsea side as part of a back three for the visit of Dortmund, with the defender having been excluded from the manager's previous three matchday squads.

Thiago Silva was absent with a knee injury and Benoit Badiashile was not registered for the Champions League.

Reece James is returned at right wing-back having missed Saturday's Premier League win against Leeds with a tight hamstring, while Potter has opted for an unchanged front three of Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix and Kai Havertz.

Dortmund begin with former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can starting in front of a back four, with England teenager Jude Bellingham in midfield and ex-West Ham striker Sebastien Haller up front.

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