Chelsea owner Todd Boelhy shared a toast with Graham Potter who celebrated one of the greatest wins of his career to reach the Champions League's last eight.
Boelhy clutched a can as he headed across the Stamford Bridge pitch to the Blues dressing room after goals from Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz wiped out a first leg Borussia Dortmund lead. The goal had saved Chelsea ’s season with the club losing the FA and Carabao Cups to Manchester City - and possibly Potter’s job with the Blues mid-table in the Premier League.
The former Ostersunds and Brighton boss joked afterwards: “Yeah, I’m still here! Still here! To win a game to go into last night in the Champions League, you'd have to say it's up there in terms of wins and evenings in my career, for sure.”
Dortmund had arrived having won all 10 of their games since the World Cup, scoring 25 goals, in stark contrast to Chelsea who had managed just seven. But the Germans were missing first choice keeper Gregor Kolar and speedy, in-form forward Karim Adeyemi who had scored four in his previous four, including the decisive goal in the first leg.
Potter admitted he’d needed that break with Chelsea luckless with injuries, suspensions and results over the past three months.
“You always need a little bit of luck,” he said. “As much as we think we are these talented coaches you need a bit of luck as well.
“And I would say that before the World Cup with nine players out and whether you if you've got no Reece James, no Ben Chilwell, no Ruben Loftus Cheek? No Raheem Sterling, these players are important for us as well.
“So I'm not gonna complain about that, that's for sure.“
Potter also explained why he couldn’t watch the decisive penalty, retaken by Havertz after Dortmund’s players encroached.
“ I watched the first penalty, and that didn't work so well,” he said. “So I thought I'd look at the floor and just wait for the crowd to make a noise. Thankfully they did!”
Potter had been at the most animated he had ever been in his managerial career in the touch line, whipping up the home crowd and celebrating excitedly after Sterling’s 43rd minute opener.
It came after Chelsea fans lined the streets outside Stamford Bridge to show their support for him and the team, more than two hours before the showdown. Police were forced to form a protective cordon to allow the team bus into the ground with the road shut off.
Potter went on: “It’s an important game. It's a special atmosphere. It was a passionate evening, I'd say the both sets of supporters I thought contributed to that great atmosphere Stamford Bridge is rocking.
”I think our performance helped it to be what it was as well. We pressed high, we tried to win some tackles and try to attack them in organised play and we produced some decent stuff against it a top team that has done a fantastic job.”
