Graham Potter enjoyed his finest night as Chelsea manager on Tuesday as his side turned their Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund around.
Trailing 1-0 following a first leg defeat in Germany last month, the Blues needed a big result after a difficult opening few months to Potter’s time in charge.
On a dramatic night at Stamford Bridge, Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz scored to take the west London giants into the last eight, lifting the pressure off the former Brighton manager.
There were a number of big Chelsea performances in front of a raucous home support, with defender Marc Cucurella a particular standout.
The Spanish international has struggled since a £62m move from Brighton last summer and had been subject of criticism from section of the club’s support, some of whom cheered his withdrawal away at West Ham last month.
Still, the 24-year-old impressed playing as left-sided central defender in a back-three, allowing Ben Chilwell to bomb forward from wing-back.
So much so, in fact, that Cucurella was awarded the Player of the Match award.
Praised by Potter, UEFA’s Technical Observer Panel also said of the defender: “Cucurella was fantastic, claiming numerous turnovers in the first half and reading the game intelligently as well as showing aerial strength and an accuracy of distribution which underpinned the victory for Chelsea.”
