Emotional moment reveals Potter’s great fear as Blues boss ‘back from the brink’

As Kai Havertz stepped back for his second penalty attempt, Chelsea boss Graham Potter stared at his feet, too afraid to watch the action in real time.

It was the roar of a packed house at Stamford Bridge and a bear-hug from assistant coach Bjorn Hamberg that informed Potter his side had jagged a two-goal lead over Borussia Dortmund.

Despite a late barrage of attacks from the German giants, Chelsea held on for a 2-1 aggregate victory to book a spot in the Champions League quarterfinals.

But more importantly, it ensured Potter would live to fight another day in the Chelsea dugout.

It was no secret the former Brighton boss was under immense pressure going into the clash.

Prior to last weekend’s Premier League fixture against Leeds, Potter’s side were winless in their last six.

Stretching back even further, Chelsea had won just three games from its last 17 in all competitions.

Results wise, it was an unmitigated disaster considering Potter oversaw a staggering estimated $AUD579 million spending spree in the January transfer window.

And with every two or three points dropped, the boo boys at Chelsea got louder, even if the message from Blues owner Todd Boehly was that Potter would be going nowhere anytime soon.

A 1-0 win over Leeds last weekend wasn’t pretty, but it stopped the rot and kept Chelsea within touching distance of European football, even if it would not be for the bright lights of the Champions League next season.

But the victory over Dortmund has brightened the mood, if only a little, as Potter survived what The Telegraphs’ Sam Dean described his “most exacting four days” in the job.

“It remains a fragile enterprise and Potter has only taken baby steps back from the brink,” Dean wrote.

“Albeit now Chelsea may go to Leicester City on Saturday feeling rather more like the Premier League big dogs they are supposed to be.”

Thankfully, Potter will never have to stress about what could have been if Havertz missed the retake.

The aggregate score would have remained at 1-1 and although Chelsea had the ascendancy for the majority of the game, Dortmund are equal-top of the Bundesliga for a reason and would attack in waves of yellow.

Yet, as The Times’ Henry Winter wrote, Potter finally had a bit of luck fall his way and bought himself the most valuable commodity in modern football: time.

“He needed to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals in this otherwise disappointing season,” Winter wrote.

“He needed to conjure a strong, winning performance from his expensively assembled team. He needed to get his line-up and tactics right.

“Potter succeeded on all counts to deserve his second chance.”

With the win, Potter became Chelsea’s first English manager to win a Champions League knockout game.

He also ended the Blues’ agonising wait for more than two goals in one game, a run stretching back to December 28.

Although jubilant Chelsea fans spilt out into the streets of West London and into pubs to celebrate yet another stunning night of European football in the club’s history, CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher knows Potter hasn’t got all of them onside.

However, the result gives the boss more time to swing them over, even if the Liverpool legend remains unconvinced Potter will still be in the role come next season.

“The fans aren’t going to change with one game, but I think this gives him time to get them on board,” Carragher said.

“He’s going to be there until the end of the season. There was a question probably four or five days ago where journalists were getting fed from the club that he could be on a knife’s edge in terms of his job.

“He’s won both games and that’ll be massive for him as a manager. I think that buys him time until the next draw, the quarterfinals of the Champions league.

“Once you’re getting to that stage, you’re almost at the end of the season. It would be ridiculous to change it.

“That cements him until the end of the season. Whether he’s there at the start of next season or not, I don’t think he will be.”

Whether Carragher’s prediction rings true remains to be seen, but most importantly for Potter, he has a chance from now until the end of the season to prove the Liverpool great wrong.

And if he pulls off the feat his predecessor Thomas Tuchel achieved in 2021 to bring Champions League football back to the Bridge next season, there would be no more doubting Potter’s credentials.