Graham Potter will get his first taste of knockout Champions League football as a head coach this midweek when we travel to play Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of our round of 16 tie.

It is assignment he is really excited about. Realistically, Europe’s premier competition offers us our final chance of winning silverware this season, and while we probably don’t rank among the favourites to lift the prestigious trophy for a third time, stranger things have happened.

Standing in our way in the last 16 are a Dortmund side that have won all seven of their games since the World Cup, a run that has lifted them into the Bundesliga’s top three following an indifferent start to their domestic campaign.


Potter has explained what Chelsea’s mentality is ahead of the trip to Germany and our first-ever meeting with the Black and Yellows.

‘It’s a fantastic opportunity for us,’ he stressed.

‘We have to see it that way. It’s a tough match against a high-quality opponent, but at the same time many of our team have won the Champions League, they’ve experienced it. They will want to fight for the game that’s for sure. That’s exciting for us.


‘In knockout competition anything can happen,’ Potter added.

‘It’s two games. It’s not valuable for us to look too far past Dortmund. We have the capability to beat Dortmund, but they’re also a strong side with a capability of getting a result in Europe as well. We have to understand that, and go to Dortmund with excitement, with humility, with respect, and try and get the result.

‘The players are confident, they’re hard-working, they believe in themselves, but they also know it’s a game of football you have to earn the right to win. We will go there with that approach.’