Blues have one final shot to save season when Dortmund visit them in UCL last-16 second leg
\n LONDON:
\nChelsea have one final shot to save their season when Borussia Dortmund visit Stamford Bridge in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday defending a 1-0 first leg lead.
\nDespite an all-time record investment of over \u00a3500 million ($603 million) in one season by the Blues\u2019 new owners, Chelsea are languishing in 10th in the Premier League and crashed out early in both domestic cups to Manchester City.
\nGraham Potter stopped the rot with a 1-0 victory over Leeds on Saturday to end a six-game winless run.
\nBut the manner of victory failed to quash doubts that Potter\u2019s job could be on the line against the German giants.
\nDortmund travel to London on the back of a 10-game winning run that has taken Edin Terzic\u2019s men into a share of the Bundesliga lead alongside Bayern Munich.
\nChelsea, by contrast, are looking up at Brentford, Brighton and Fulham after three wins in their last 16 games.
\nScoring goals has been the biggest problem for Potter\u2019s men, with the pressure on their expensive new recruits to start delivering.
\nChampions League rules meant only three of Chelsea\u2019s January signings could be registered for the knockout stages with the attacking trio of Enzo Fernandez, Joao Felix and Mykhailo Mudryk making the cut.
\nFernandez broke the British transfer record when he joined from Benfica for \u00a3107 million.
\nBut the Argentine World Cup winner is yet to have the desired impact in providing a creative spark from midfield and was found wanting by Karim Adeyemi\u2019s searing pace for Dortmund\u2019s winner in the first leg three weeks ago.
\nChelsea spent \u00a310 million just to have Felix on loan for the final few months of the season, but there will be little left to play for should they fail to turn the tie around.
\nAt least Potter has tended to use Fernandez and Felix when available, unlike Mudryk.
\nChelsea gazumped Arsenal to sign the Ukrainian from Shakhtar Donetsk for an initial 70 million euros (\u00a362 million, $74 million), rising to 100 million euros in add-ons.
\nBut Mudryk has not started in the last three games and was an unused substitute against Leeds despite Potter making all five available changes.
\nChelsea scored a first goal in four games at the weekend, but it came from a defender in France centre-back Wesley Fofana, who powered home a corner.
\n\u201cWe have to attack better as a team,\u201d said Potter. \u201cThat\u2019s my responsibility. It\u2019s too easy to zoom in on individuals and blame them.
\nIt\u2019s a collective, we have to create more, do better, and that starts with me.
\n\u201cHelping the team get better chances, more chances. I don\u2019t doubt the quality of the players.\u201d
\nDespite an injury-disrupted first season at Stamford Bridge, Raheem Sterling remains Chelsea\u2019s joint top scorer this season with six in all competitions.
\nSterling has not netted since January 1, but Potter believes he could provide the spark his side need against Dortmund.
\nThe England international scored 24 goals in 67 games for Manchester City in Europe\u2019s premier club competition prior to his \u00a350 million move last summer.
\n\u201cHis goalscoring record in the Champions League speaks for itself,\u201d added Potter.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a proven campaigner in that competition. We\u2019re delighted with that, we\u2019re looking forward to having him on the pitch on Tuesday, hopefully enjoying his football.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blues have one final shot to save season when Dortmund visit them in UCL last-16 second leg LONDON: Chelsea have one final shot to save their season when Borussia Dortmund visit Stamford Bridge in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday defending a 1-0 first leg lead. Despite an all-time record investment of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-318017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n