Graham Potter reveals Chelsea Champions League plan for Dinamo Zagreb match after last 16 qualification
After securing a spot in the round of 16 of the Champions League against RB Salzburg, Graham Potter, the manager of Chelsea, provided an update on the team’s strategy for the upcoming match against Dinamo Zagreb.
After beating their opponents from Austria 2-1 while they were on the road, the west London club were able to move on to the next round of the competition and earn a spot in the round of 16.
Mateo Kovacic scored his first goal of the season for the team playing in west London. It was a magnificent left-footed drive from the outside of the box that put the team in the lead.
Despite the fact that Junior Adamu scored for Salzburg to make the score even, Chelsea was still able to pull out the win thanks to an incredible finish from Kai Havertz.
The team coached by Potter had to put in a lot of effort to get the win, but they can now bask in their accomplishment as they get ready to compete in the round of 16 early in the new year.
After this week’s match against Dinamo Zagreb at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will have played one game less than the other teams in Group E of the competition.
After the encounter, Potter gave an interview to the media via football.london, in which he disclosed his team’s strategy for the tie against their opponents from Croatia.
“We’re at home at Stamford Bridge and we’ll try our very best,” said the head coach.
“We want to win every game we play, that is the mentality we have to have.
“But clearly, we have a game at the weekend and another game the weekend after, so maybe we can rotate a little bit. But we will try our best.”
In spite of having gotten off to a shaky start in their European campaign, Chelsea has been able to claw their way back into the group despite playing some tough competition.
After suffering an unexpected loss to Zagreb on the opening day of the Champions League, Potter’s team subsequently battled Salzburg to a 1-1 draw on their home turf. Zagreb won the match.
They would shortly win against AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, and then a week later they would win over the Italian club in San Siro.
The progress of the team to the round of 16 has been ensured thanks to goals scored by Kovacic and Havertz, which were sufficient to clinch the deal.
Since he took over as head coach of Chelsea at the beginning of September, Potter has yet to experience defeat with the team.
They have also been successful in advancing to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the fourth season in a row, and their last matchup before moving on to the next phase of the competition will take place in Zagreb.
Potter and his Blues will get back into action in the Premier League this coming weekend when the head coach visits his old team, Brighton, to take on the Seagulls.
They still have five games remaining to play before taking a break for the World Cup, so this will be one of those games.
Graham Potter reveals Chelsea Champions League plan for Dinamo Zagreb match after last 16 qualification
