Borussia Dortmund v Chelsea LIVE commentary: Jude Bellingham and co out to pile more misery on Graham Potter as Bundesliga giants and Blues set for first-ever meeting

Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea are set for a first competitive showdown when the Champions League knockout rounds get underway this week.

The Bundesliga giants and the west Londoners are set to clash in the last 16 of the Champions League as the competition starts to heat up.

And with Chelsea languishing in midtable, winning the Champions League might be the best chance of competing in UEFA’s premier competition next year.

Chelsea have won just two of their last 12 games in all competitions, while Dortmund have won their last five games since the return of the Bundesliga.

They are flying and will fancy their chances against a Chelsea side low on confidence and trying to gel all of their January signings into a cohesive unit.

Dortmund v Chelsea: talkSPORT coverage

This Champions League round of 16 clash is set to take place on Wednesday, February 15.

Kick-off at the Westfalenstadion is scheduled for 9pm local time, which is 8pm UK time.

talkSPORT will have live commentary from Germany, with Adrian Durham serving as your presenter.

Commentary then comes from Ian Danter and former Chelsea defender Scott Minto.

talkSPORT.com will also have a live blog keeping you up to date with all the action.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

u can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Dortmund v Chelsea: Team news

Due to Chelsea’s ridiculous recruitment in the January transfer window, Potter has been forced to exclude several players from the Champions League squad.

So Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos have all been left out.

Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling, Mateo Kovacic and Denis Zakaria are all doubts.

Plus, Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante, Armando Broja and Edouard Mendy remain sidelined through injury for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, the hosts will be without Youssoufa Moukoko after he was withdrawn during the 2-0 win over Werder Bremen at the weekend with a leg injury.

Dortmund v Chelsea: Match facts

• This will be the first ever game between Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea in European competition.
• Borussia Dortmund are winless in their last 10 games against English teams in European competition, with eight of those being defeats (D2). Their last victory against an English side dates back to March 2016, when they won 2-1 away to Spurs in the UEFA Europa League. Both of their goals in that game were scored by current Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
• Chelsea have only won three of their 11 previous away games against German sides (D3 L5), with two of those victories coming in successive seasons against FC Schalke 04 in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Their last such trip came during Frank Lampard’s tenure, in a 1-4 defeat at Bayern Munich in August 2020.
• Graham Potter could become just the second English manager to win away from home against German opposition in the UEFA Champions League, with Sir Bobby Robson the only previous manager to do so (on two occasions). The last of those was a 3-1 victory at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in February 2003, on what was Robson’s 70th birthday.
• Borussia Dortmund have only lost four of their last 21 home games in the UEFA Champions League (W10 D7), although three of the four defeats in this run have been against English opposition – two defeats against Spurs (1-2 in 2017-18 and 0-1 in 2018-2019) and one versus Manchester City (1-2 in 2020-21).
• Graham Potter is unbeaten in charge of Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League (W4 D1), winning each of his last four games. If the Blues win this game, Potter would become the first English manager to win five consecutive matches in the competition.
• Chelsea forward Kai Havertz has played more games against Borussia Dortmund without scoring than against any other opponent in his club career (seven games, no goals). Furthermore, he has lost each of his four away games against Dortmund in all competitions (all four with Leverkusen).
• Borussia Dortmund’s Sébastien Haller has scored eleven goals in eight UEFA Champions League appearances, the most of any player in their first eight appearances in the competition. Additionally, he has scored a goal every 61 minutes on average, the best ratio in the competition’s history (among players with minimum 250 minutes played).
• Mykhailo Mudryk has been directly involved in five goals in six appearances in the UEFA Champions League this season (three goals and two assists), with all of those coming for former club Shakhtar Donetsk. Indeed, he has scored (3) and been directly involved in more goals (5) than any other Chelsea player in the competition this term.
• Youssoufa Moukoko – who will be 18 years and 87 days old on the day of this game – could become the youngest German player to score for Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League (currently Felix Passlack, aged 18 years and 177 days in 2016 against Legia Warsaw).