Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund (agg: 2-1): Sterling and Havertz put Blues into Champions League quarter-finals

Chelsea are through to the last eight of the UEFA Champions League for the third season running after a 2-0 home win against Borussia Dortmund secured a 2-1 aggregate triumph in their round of 16 tie.

Match in brief: Havertz the hero in the end

Kai Havertz was particularly prominent throughout, firing wide eight minutes in with the clearest opening of the early exchanges. Kepa Arrizabalaga then pulled off a fine save to keep out a Marco Reus free-kick, but Havertz was soon to the fore again when his low shot from the edge of the penalty area bobbled past Alexander Meyer only to strike a post and dribble across the face of goal.

Raheem Sterling celebrates after opening the scoring at Stamford BridgeChelsea FC via Getty Images

Though Havertz then did have the ball in the net, the goal was ruled out for an earlier offside. João Félix and Ben Chilwell both spurned opportunities as the Blues sought the opener their pressure warranted – Sterling came up trumps when he lashed past Meyer having miscued his initial effort.

The turnaround was complete when Havertz converted his penalty – awarded for a Marius Wolf handball – at the second attempt having again struck the woodwork first time round.

Jude Bellingham went close and Meyer was up late on as Dortmund looked to force extra time, but the hosts stood firm.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea)

"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."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Joe Terry, Chelsea reporter

Given the context, this was by far the most important win of Graham Potter's tenure. Faced with one of Europe's form teams, the Blues played with aggression, purpose and full, unyielding commitment. If they can pull out performances like this and take the confidence garnered from this win with them, they'll know they can trouble any opposition with the quality in this squad.

James Thorogood, Dortmund reporter

Having been knocked out at the group stage in disappointing fashion last season, Dortmund restored a measure of pride in the current campaign despite falling at the last 16. Bellingham stepped up as a goalscorer and a leader to prove that there is life after Erling Haaland and that Dortmund can compete with Europe's elite. The real measure of this young and hungry side will be whether they can use their experiences as building blocks for future success.

Reaction 

Graham Potter, Chelsea manager: "I'm not sure how I feel, there's a lot of emotion in my body. It was tense at the end, but I thought the boys were fantastic. They played really well, created some good chances and I'm just delighted for them. It's great for everybody here."

Raheem Sterling, Chelsea forward: "It was a massive performance. We had to dig deep and we took our chances. We haven't had the luck recently and tonight we felt and knew, as a team, we could do it."

Kai Havertz, Chelsea forward: "I was a bit nervous [for the retaken penalty] but I scored, and that's the most important thing. I tried to wait, to look at the goalkeeper, and I saw that he was going to go to the same side again."

Edin Terzić, Dortmund coach: "We have to say, over the course of two games, Chelsea deserve to go through. But we would have deserved to go through too as it was two games that were very evenly-matched."

Emre Can, Dortmund midfielder: "Chelsea had to come at us and they did it well, especially in the first half. In the second half we had a couple of good chances, but we also didn't create enough from open play and we have to be honest about that."

Key stats

• Dortmund had won all ten of their games in all competitions in 2023 prior to this defeat.
• Chelsea have won nine of their last 11 UEFA Champions League home matches (D1 L1).
• The Blues had failed to win any of their previous five UEFA club competition fixtures against German opposition.
• Dortmund, meanwhile, have lost all of their last six European away games against English opponents.
• Sterling now has 27 UEFA Champions League goals, just three shy of all-time leading English scorer in the competition Wayne Rooney.

Fantasy star performers

Marc Cucurella – 11
Kalidou Koulibaly – 9
Raheem Sterling – 8
Wesley Fofana – 8

Line-ups

Chelsea: Kepa; Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella; James, Kovaćič (Pulišić 83), Fernández (Zakaria 87), Chilwell; Sterling (Loftus-Cheek 83), João Félix (Gallagher 67), Havertz

Dortmund: Meyer; Wolf, Süle, Schlotterbeck, Guerreiro; Can; Brandt (Reyna 5), Bellingham, Salih Özcan (Bynoe-Gittens 64), Reus; Haller (Malen 77)