Chelsea are guaranteed to be without at least 10 players from their squad to face Borussia Dortmund in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. The clash is a key one for the Blues, who will have to overturn a 1-0 deficit to ensure they aren't knocked out of the competition.
The first leg at the Signal Iduna Park saw the away side on top, but in a familiar tale in recent weeks, they were unable to put away their chances. The home side capitalised as Karim Adeyemi's burst of acceleration saw him run half the length of the pitch before scoring the winning goal.
With a huge second leg ahead of the west London outfit, Graham Potter set out his expectations for the match, telling reporters: "It's a big game, an exciting game, a chance to go through to the last eight of the Champions League. It will be a special night at Stamford Bridge, so we’re really looking forward to that. All our thoughts are on being positive, winning the game, and going through. In terms of what we learned from the previous game [against Dortmund] they are a top opponent.
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"You can see from their results in the Bundesliga, they are in a fantastic vein of form, winning games constantly. That tells you as a team they are doing a lot well. Attack and defend, good individuals, well coached. So it’s a big challenge for us but we’re excited for it."
While there will be plenty of hope that Chelsea can overturn their first leg defeat, Potter will have his hands tied as he is set to have at least 10 players missing. Five of those are through injury as Edouard Mendy, Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, N'Golo Kante and Armando Broja are out.
Mason Mount is suspended for the clash, while a quartet of Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are not featuring as they were not registered for the competition. That's a large list of absences that could be made one larger if Reece James - who is a doubt with a hamstring concern - is unable to pass the fitness test to play.
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