Chelsea must fire to burst Dortmund bubble, Benfica out to maintain perfect Belgian record – Champions League in Opta numbers

By Sports Desk March 06, 2023

Chelsea must produce another Champions League fightback to avoid being knocked out by Borussia Dortmund and Benfica will be expected to advance to the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Dortmund start the second leg at Stamford Bridge riding on the crest of a wave following 10 consecutive victories, sitting level on points with Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga after beating RB Leipzig 2-1.

Karim Adeyemi's goal gave Edin Terzic's side a 1-0 win over Chelsea and they have a great record in the competition after winning the first leg of knockout stage ties.

The Blues eased the pressure on head coach Graham Potter by beating Leeds United 1-0 on Saturday and have progressed more often than not after losing a first leg in Europe's premier club competition.

Benfica hold a 2-0 lead over Club Brugge heading into the second leg at Estadio da Luz and Joao Mario will attempt to extend his impressive scoring run in the competition.

Stats Perform pick out the standout Opta data to preview the two matches on Tuesday.

 

Chelsea v Borussia Dortmund

Dortmund may need the slender advantage they gained in the first leg, given they have lost five consecutive away games against English sides in the Champions League since beating Arsenal 2-1 in October 2013.

Chelsea lost the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie for the eighth time in Dortmund, but on the previous seven occasions that has happened they have gone on to progress four times.

That said, of the previous six ties in which Dortmund have won the first leg they have finished off the job to advance – Paris Saint-Germain being the only team to mount a second-leg fightback and knock them out at this stage in 2020.

The Bundesliga title contenders will be looking to win both legs of a Champions League knockout tie for the first time since the 1996-97 season, when they beat both Auxerre and Manchester United twice en route to lifting the trophy for the only time.

Benfica v Club Brugge

Brugge have it all to do when they face Benfica, who are unbeaten in their 10 previous home games against Belgian sides in the Champions League with eight wins and two draws.

Only one of the 45 teams to have won a first leg away from home in a Champions League knockout tie by at least two goals has failed to make it through, when PSG were dumped out by Manchester United in 2019.

Benfica have won three consecutive games in this competition, their best since reeling off six in a row back in the 1989-90 campaign.

Brugge have not scored in their past four Champions League games, which represents their longest drought in the competition.

They will have to keep a close eye on Joao Mario, who will attempt to become the first player to score in five consecutive games in either the European Cup or Champions League since the great Eusebio netted in seven on the spin between May 1963 and September 1964.

Related items

  • Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner Leeds edge 'basketball game' at Swansea as Gnonto nets injury-time winner

    Wilfried Gnonto's stoppage-time strike fired Leeds United to the Championship summit as they beat Swansea City 4-3 in a contest defender Joe Rodon compared to a basketball game.

    Daniel Farke's team were twice forced to come from behind in South Wales as a Manor Solomon strike and a Ben Cabango own goal saw them respond to first-half efforts from Harry Darling and Liam Cullen.

    Solomon's second put Leeds 3-2 up with 73 minutes gone, but Florian Bianchini's 90th-minute leveller looked set to keep them third in the table, behind Sunderland and Sheffield United.

    However, substitute Gnonto tucked home following an assist from former Swansea winger Dan James, sending the travelling fans into raptures and securing Leeds' second straight victory.

    Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Rodon – who began his career with Swansea – said: "It was like a basketball game! Credit to the boys.

    "Every game we want to keep a clean sheet, but you know how it is in the Championship, and Swansea made it difficult for us."

    Gnonto now has eight goal involvements in the Championship this season, scoring three and assisting five. 

    Only Norwich City's Borja Sainz (11 goals, two assists), Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz (five goals and seven assists) and West Brom's Josh Maja (10 goals, one assist) have more.

  • Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header Slot relishing Liverpool's Real Madrid, Man City double-header

    Arne Slot is relishing Liverpool's upcoming double-header against Real Madrid and Manchester City.

    Liverpool came from behind thanks to Mohamed Salah's second-half double to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday.

    That victory at St Mary's moved the Reds eight points clear of Man City, who were thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham on Saturday for a fifth straight defeat in all competitions.

    Pep Guardiola's team visit Anfield on December 1, though first the Reds host European champions Madrid in the Champions League.

    And Slot cannot wait for Liverpool to go up against two heavyweights.

    "It's what you need in a league like this, with so many quality teams. You have to keep winning because if you don’t, the other ones will," the Dutchman told BBC Sport.

    "That's what we try to do every game, now it's Real Madrid and next Sunday it's Man City.

    "You couldn't wish for more than playing these two games in the upcoming week, at home."

    No manager in Premier League history has reached 10 wins in fewer matches from the start of their career in the competition than Slot (12 games, level with Guus Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti).

    Liverpool were indebted to Salah, however, with the forward dragging them level and then converting the winner from the penalty spot after Mateus Fernandes had put Southampton into a surprise lead early in the second half, following goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Adam Armstrong before the break.

    Salah became the first player to score in five successive Premier League appearances for Liverpool since the Egyptian himself in October 2021 (seven in a row). His second goal was his 100th away from Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions.

    "It was very good that Mo scored in that moment," said Slot of Salah's first goal, which came in the 65th minute when he nudged Ryan Gravenberch's pass beyond the stranded Alex McCarthy.

    "It was not the best period of the game so he helped us with that and then afterwards we dominated so much, they got tired.

    "That is what special players do. They can score goals out of nowhere. It's not completely out of nowhere because the assist of Gravenberch is a great ball as well, but Mo is known for the timing of his runs, he feels the right moment to run behind the last line, and normally you know he’s not offside because he always finds the right moment, and then he scores the goal, which was very helpful for us."

    While Slot acknowledged Liverpool were tested by the Premier League's bottom club, he felt his team were always in control.

    He added: "It wasn't a surprise for us, we saw how they played against Man City, Arsenal and Newcastle in away games, never mind how they would play in a home game against a top team. But we dominated. Because we went down 2-1, it made it really difficult for us.

    "We dominated the whole game, which is not that easy against Southampton because they want possession, they want to dominate the game as well, but they couldn't. Because the scoreline was as it was, it felt like a difficult match, but if you look at the underlying numbers we deserved to win."

    Those metrics support Slot's point. Liverpool accumulated 2.9 expected goals from 27 shots, 11 of which were on target, while they also limited Southampton to 37.9% possession.

  • Jaiswal, Kohli tons put India on the verge of win against Australia Jaiswal, Kohli tons put India on the verge of win against Australia

    Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli bagged magnificent centuries to put India in a commanding position on day three of their first Test match against Australia in Perth. 

    India declared in a dominant position of 487-6 after Jaiswal (161) built on their 172-0 at stumps on day two and former captain Kohli (100 not out) added quick runs with his first century in 16 months coming up during the final hour. 

    The tourists then wreaked havoc with the ball in five overs before stumps as captain Jasprit Bumrah dismissed debutant Nathan McSweeney (zero) and Marnus Labuschagne (three) before nightwatchman Cummins (two) fell to Mohammed Siraj with the score at 12, as the hosts trail by 521 runs with seven wickets in hand. 

    Earlier in the Test, India had scored 150 batting first before bundling out Australia for 104 in the first innings. 

    Jaiswal resumed his innings at 90 on the third day and brought up his century in the first hour before KL Rahul departed for 77 after an opening-wicket partnership of 201. 

    The centurion fell as India's third wicket at 313-3 as Australia picked up three wickets in the space of eight runs, but Kohli reached his ton with help from Washington Sundar (29) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (38 not out) as India asserted their dominance. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.