Christian Pulisic back but no N’Golo Kanté for Borussia Dortmund second leg

Christian Pulisic and his mountain man beard are available for selection for the first time in two months as Chelsea look to engineer a second win in just as many games and come back against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Round of 16.

It’s only half-time™ after all, right? It’s the biggest cliché, but it’s also not untrue.

“We’re half-time and are 1-0 down. We need to respond and I think this group of players can do that.”

Graham Potter, like all of us, would’ve been hoping to get N’Golo Kanté back in time for this game, but unfortunately that will not be the case. This won’t make things any easier, nor would another game missed from Reece James. That said, Pulisic has had himself a few big Champions League nights, so he could be an x-factor.

“Reece we’ll make a decision on tomorrow. Christian is in the squad, he’s trained and is looking good.

“It’s too soon for N’Golo; he’s only had two full training sessions. It’s too soon but he’s looking good. So we’re going to continue with that progress. [...] It’s a complex one with him because he has had a long time out. So he’s back in full training but then it’s how we get him up to speed to play in the Champions League or Premier League. That is when he needs bit of time with the group, bit of time in training, and we’ll need to build his minutes up. He won’t be able to go straight in for 90 minutes any time soon but the fact he is training and with us, the fact he is training, is exciting.”

Chelsea haven’t won back-to-back games in almost five (5!) months, since matching 2-0 wins away to AC Milan and Aston Villa. That’s over 20 games, if you’re keeping count, though that might be too depressing for anyone to actually keep count.

And yet, it’s only half-time!

“We’re playing against a top opponent in a really good vein of form. So it’s a huge challenge but at the same time, what an opportunity. Stamford Bridge will be rocking I’m sure and we will give it everything to win the game and go through.”

-Graham Potter; source: Football.London

When the Bridge’s a-rocking, don’t come a-knocking!