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Goodness me, the ground is jumping, bouncing and howling as the players come out, the tifo showing a fan, a globe and a sun. I’ve done it no justice whatsoever, but whatetvz, it’s massive.
My wife has pointed out that, seeing as we – OK I – have been talking Ghanaian musicians, King Promise is a Chelsea fan.
As for Dortmund, I’m sure they’ll be targeting the space in behind those Chelsea full-backs, and be looking to play into Haller and, while he occupies the centre-backs, be asking Adeyemi, Bellingham and Brandt to hit the box running in behind.
So where is tonight’s game? By the looks of things, Dortmund are trying to force Chelsea around the sides … but I daresay Chelsea will be seeking to get around the sides. Both James and Chilwell will have licence to get forward given two defensive midfielders able to cover, and with Ziyech and Mudryk both looking to come inside, they’ll presumably be tasked with supplying width. The side Graham Potter’s picked looks to have a decent balance, as it goes, because Felix roaming central offers a different threat.
“I’ve been following the Bundesliga for over a decade,” emails Aditi Modi. “I’ve been living in Germany for a couple of years now. Never ONCE did my English-speaking self think of Mats Hummels as ‘a favourite plural’ name. But now I will. From now on, he is indeed my favourite plural.”
I’ll tell you what i’m really looking forward to tonight: Jude Bellingham v Enzo Fernandez. If I’m honest, my opinion on Fernandez is coloured by what other people say because, though he was decent at the World Cup, I don’t think he was that decent. But from what I’ve read, everyone who’s seen lots of him sees a generational player, able to do almost everything you’d want a midfielder to do, while Bellingham I’ve seen with my eyes has everything – and both are absolute killers. Given Bellingham has Can behind him, he should have proper licence to get into the box, and I can’t wait to see how Chelsea, and Fernandez in particular, deal with that.
“Is Jeff Sax suggesting that everyone should just play one game, and whoever has the best result wins Football?” wonders Matt Dony. “It certainly does solve the player-workload issue…”
And the MBM-er’s.
“It will be extremely interesting to see how Mudryk gets on with Chilwell as left-back,” reckons Julian Menz. “I don’t give much credence to the ‘he won’t pass, so I won’t’ Mudryk v Cucurella nonsense, and I don’t like singling out certain players, but let’s face it, Cucurella has been abject pants recently.”
Yes, I was a little surprised Chelsea signed Cucurella, who looked a decent player but not one a side hoping to win the big pots might need – though I guess he’s waffly versatile and might be a decent alternative when Chilwell needs a rest. Still, though, I’d expect Mudryk will be happy with the change.
On which point, seeing as we’re here to share love, here’s the brilliant DJ Shagy playing an Afrobeats/amapiano set:
“I sure hope today’s matches are better than yesterday!” pleads Joe Pearson. “Enjoyed the ‘Detty December’ playlist (even though it was long), so here’s my contribution. Every year I put together a tribute playlist honouring performers, and sometimes inventors, who passed in the previous year that I share with a couple dozen friends. Here is the most recent edition. Hope you enjoy. P.S. I also write a fairly longwinded set of ‘liner-notes’ that I’d be happy to forward to anyone interested.”
What can I say, my mother-in-law was away with us, so we had babysitting and lot of late nights early mornings. For those not with us for PSG v Bayern last evening, Detty December is the name given to the Christmas/new year party season in Accra, so I shared our playlist, now below Joe’s, which I look forward to enjoying as soon as possible.
Email! “Chelsea couldn’t beat West Ham!” says Jeff Sax. “What can they possibly do against Dortmund?”
Yes, but today is another day and sport, football in particular, doesn’t work like that. Chelsea will have more space tonight, their players might play better, Dortmund might have an off-night; all sorts of things can happen and that’s why we love it.
Ach, something I meant to note about that Chelsea XI: Mason Mount isn’t in it, again, and Joao Felix, who might be off in May, is. When Thomas Tuchel arrived at the Bridge, he left Mount out of his first team, then never did so again, whereas it seems like Potter doesn’t really fancy him – and there’s a contract situation brewing. I see both sides: Mount is Chelsea and has proved himself dependable in big games, but on the other, over the course of the season, his numbers probably aren’t good enough for the role he plays. I’d not be surprised if he left in the summer, because I can’t see him sitting on the bench regularly.
Apparently there’s another game going on tonight and one that, perhaps, might decide the destination of this seasons’s Premier League title. I know it’s only February, and that we’ve played fewer games than usual, but if Arsenal win tonight and win their game in hand they’d be nine points ahead, a huge deficit, whereas if City win, the pressure might tell. Anyhow, Scott Murray has all the goings-on.
As for Chelsea, Benoit Badiashile isn’t on the Champions League list – he’s replaced by Kalidou Koulibaly – while Noni Madueke is left out entirely. I’m a little surprised Hakim Ziyech starts, but I guess Potter wants his composure, ball-retention and set-piece delivery. Meantime, Ben Chilwell replaces Marc Cucurella – if he can stay fit, I’d expect him to stay in – and Ruben Loftus-Cheek continues next to Enzo Fernandez.
Dortmund deploy the 4-2-3-1 they used to win at Bochum the week before last, but there are still some surprises in selection, Mats Hummels, our favourite plural, missing out, and Marco Reus too. My guess that that Terzic wants pace on the pitch, because he also also prefers Karim Adeyemi, who’s not played for 10 days, to Gio Reyna. Jude Bellingham wears the armband.
Ah, first of all, here’s Graham Potter. He says he thought his team attacked well early doors at West Ham, but tonight is completely different and his team are looking forward to it. They feel lucky to be in this position and are excited to take it on – they need to block out external stuff, be present, and stick to the moments; the crowd will be a factor because it’s a Champions League night, and Chelsea need to embrace the pressure “because that’s when the good stuff happens”.
Alreet, I’m going to write these down, then we’ll have a chat about what they mean.
Teams!
Borussia Dortmund (4-1-4-1): Kobel; Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Emre Can; Brandt, Bellingham, Özcan, Adeyemi; Haller. Subs: Reyna, Dahoud, Reus, Hummels, Modeste, Malen, Meunier, Ryerson, Meyer, Rothe, Bynoe-Gittens, Coulibaly.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Kepa; James, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly, Chilwell; Enzo Fernández, Loftus-Cheek; Ziyech, João Félix, Mudryk; Havertz. Subs: Kovacic, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Mount, Zakaria, Gallagher, Azpilicueta, Chukwuemeka, Cucurella, Fofana, Bergström, Hall.
Preamble
Tenth in the league with 23 goals scored in 22 games, out of the FA Cup, and with just three wins in their last 15 – against Dinamo Zagreb, Bournemouth and Palace – a run that includes eight defeats. Chelsea are rubbish, right?
Er, not quite. Well, OK, quite – but there’s more to it than that. Graham Potter inherited an unbalanced squad missing the masking agent that is N’Golo Kanté and the everything that is Reece James, then spent a fair bit of time compounding that by acquiring a multitude of players, in vulgar style and with little apparent plan.
However, various of those new arrivals are excellent. Enzo Fernández has settled in immediately, João Félix looks there too and Mykhailo Mudryk has a lot of talent – plus James is fit again.
In any event, Potter is a systems coach so needs time to get his players, lots of whom are inexperienced, doing what he wants – yes, all the more so now he’s 690,721 new ones to assimilate – and finally, we’re starting to see signs. Though Chelsea didn’t beat West Ham last weekend, they created enough chances to win three games and, even if the lack of a finisher costs them in the short-term, once they’ve added one they’ll be a very serious problem.
Whether they’re ready to beat Dortmund – who’ve been going through their own process – is another matter. After an abject start to the season, they’re improving quickly now they know what Edin Terzic wants from them, and though Youssoufa Moukoko is injured, Jude Bellingham, Julian Brandt and Gio Reyna have plenty. And that’s before we consider Jamie Bynoe-Gittens – 18, English, and once of Chelsea – who scored at the weekend.
All of which is to say that, when the draw was made, this looked one of its less intriguing ties, but now it’s arrived it is fascinating.
Kick-off: 9pm local, 8pm GMT
English (US)