Money talks in Champions League to leave Borussia Dortmund stranded

Borussia Dortmund brought three Germany international centre-backs to Stamford Bridge and, by the end, none of them were playing centre-back. Instead, Marco Reus and Emre Can were. Niklas Sule and Nico Schlotterbeck were stationed further upfield, their height deployed as auxiliary centre-backs in a desperate quest for a comeback. Mats Hummels was the busiest unused substitute in the technical areas, part assistant manager, part wannabe fourth official.

Hummels has at least played in bigger Champions League games in London. He and Reus are the survivors of the 2013 final, even if the defender later followed the increasingly familiar trail south to join Bayern Munich. The 10^th anniversary of that 2013 final defeat to Bayern falls in May and that, as far as the 21^st century Dortmund go, is likely to remain as good as it gets for quite some time. Some 20 months later, Jurgen Klopp was bottom of the Bundesliga; he would gegenpress his way to continental glory but not in black and yellow. The economics dictated otherwise: both with Bayern’s recruitment strategy focusing on weakening their rivals and in the wider European environment where Dortmund’s colossal attendances did not render them one of the super-rich.

Fast forward a decade and perhaps money talked as they went out to Chelsea. Manager Edin Terzic adopted an uncomplaining attitude. “It is not that they [just] spent money,” he rationalised. “They brought in some quality players.” Which, of course, is easier to do with a big budget.

But a club whose capacity is barely half theirs have committed some £600 million in fees in the last year alone. Chelsea signed Raheem Sterling in the summer Dortmund sold Erling Haaland; had the Norwegian not joined Manchester City, perhaps Sterling would not have been allowed to leave, and he scored the first goal. The second came from a German but when Kai Havertz’s price became stratospheric in 2020, there was never a prospect his buyers would be Dortmund.

The prospect they could afford was instead Jude Bellingham and this, surely, was his last Champions League game in a Dortmund shirt. Terzic rued the chance the teenager poked wide from six yards; Bellingham’s European career in their colours ended with a mistimed lunge at Reece James that brought an injury-time booking. He probably deserved a better end but, such is Dortmund’s place in football’s food chain, he will have better chances to win this competition with a host of wealthier suitors.

Dortmund’s recent record now stands at one quarter-final appearance in six years; since Klopp’s foray to the final, the only teams they have beaten in the Champions League knockout stages are Zenit St Petersburg, Sevilla and Benfica. Chelsea would have been a bigger scalp. “I think both teams deserve to go through to the next round but tonight Chelsea score twice and we don’t,” Terzic said.

“Both legs were very tight and in both inches and moments decide if you go to the next round or not. Today there are some moments where we were a bit unlucky.” The most obvious felt the retaken penalty. Terzic was too diplomatic to dispute the decision after Ben Chilwell encroached the most as Kai Havertz initially missed. Bellingham, who branded the decision to allow the German to have a second go “a joke”, was more outspoken.

But there are different forms of misfortune. If Julian Ryerson, who has a 100 per cent winning record in his brief Dortmund career, was absent through suspension, injury deprived them of goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, Chelsea’s first-leg nemesis, and Karim Adeyemi, whose searing speed brought them victory at the Signal Iduna Park. With five minutes gone, Julian Brandt limped off. “Julian Brandt and Kobel andAdeyemi were three key players in the last weeks,” Terzic said. Sebastian Haller lasted rather longer but last summer’s biggest buy is, understandably, not back to his best after testicular cancer.

Chelsea could win without the absent Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante, Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashile. They had such riches that Marc Cucurella, named man of the match, had not even been on the bench for their previous three games and Mykhailo Mudryk, the £88 million man, stayed there as an unused substitute while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, scorer of 141 goals for Dortmund, was not even in the Champions League squad. Terzic lacked such luxuries.

Dortmund almost cancelled out the gulf in resources, but they needed everything to go right. It is a recurring theme. A team with 10 straight wins were beaten by a team in 10^th. It is overachievement for Dortmund, underachievement for Chelsea. Terzic’s immaculate record in 2023, until his side arrived in England and suffered a first setback since before the World Cup, has taken them level on points with Bayern at the Bundesliga summit.

They have not pipped Germany’s resident superpower to the Bundesliga title since Klopp’s heyday. Once again, as the rich have become richer, the odds feel stacked against them. “We don’t want to compete with Chelsea in the transfer market. We want to do it on the pitch,” added Terzic. Over 180 minutes, they did a fine job of it. But it will be still harder when Bellingham goes and when even Dortmund are such underdogs on the balance sheet, it is scarcely healthy for football.