Wasteful Chelsea suffer first-leg defeat in Dortmund
Chelsea failed to take their chances in Germany and need to pull off a second-leg comeback if they are to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
Karim Adeyemi scored a brilliant goal for Dortmund just after the hour mark – against the run of play and following a Blues corner at which the offside flag was raised but the referee played an advantage.
Ademyi ran onto Raphael Guerreiro’s flick-on and galloped fully 70 yards, beating Enzo Fernandez in the process, before rounding keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and slotting home.
The lively Joao Felix had two great chances for Chelsea in the first half but could not find the target after linking up with Hakim Ziyech, and then hit the bar after being set up by Kai Havertz.
Chelsea continued to create openings after going behind and were denied by a terrific clearance off the line by Emre Can with 11 minutes remaining.
After Ruben Loftus-Cheek pulled the ball back to Kalidou Koulibaly, keeper Gregor Kobel got a touch to the defender’s shot but the ball was on the way in when Can slid in to hook it away.
And in the final seconds, a Fernandez strike was brilliantly saved by Kobel.
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, James, Silva, Koulibaly, Chilwell (Cucurella 71), Loftus-Cheek, Ziyech, Fernandez, Joao Felix, Mudryk (Mount 71), Havertz.