Chelsea face Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 of the Champions League, and manager Graham Potter has his work cut out after falling to a first-leg defeat against the Yellow Wall.

The polarity in success between the respective outfits is a gulf apart from where demanding Blues supporters would expect their outfit to perch, especially given the lucrative spending spree of over £550m since last summer, preceded by opulent owner Todd Boehly's arrival at the helm.

Chelsea languish in tenth in the Premier League and have fallen in the FA Cup, and considering London rivals Arsenal are 29 points ahead in the division's top spot, a late title charge seems somewhat unlikely.

Dortmund, in retrospect, are second in the league, level with Bayern Munich and riding an 11-match winning streak across all competitions.

This means overcoming Dortmund is the only way to ensure Stamford Bridge does not run a second year without silverware, and despite his recent lacklustre form, Mason Mount must be unleashed to play a pivotal role in advancing his outfit into the quarter-finals of football's foremost continental competition.

Will Mason Mount play against Dortmund?

This time last year,  few would have imagined it to be a brazen move to start Mount in the knockout phase of the Champions League, but success has been sparse in west London this season, and the England international has candidly been culpable for some of the misfortune, especially since the conclusion of the World Cup.

Indeed, despite beating Leeds United at Stamford Bridge last weekend, Chelsea have won just three of their past 16 outings across all competitions, and Mount has consequently lost his place in the starting XI after his own plummet in form.

The 24-year-old has made 32 appearances this term but has been benched in two of the past three league outings, also making just a cameo in the first encounter against BvB.

However, with Dortmund in such a rich vein, and Mount's creativity on show in continental competition this term, registering four assists, his inclusion from the start could give Chelsea the edge at Stamford Bridge.

As per FBref, the £80k-per-week ace ranks among the best 7% of attacking midfielders in Europe's top five leagues for progressive passes, the top 25% for assists and the top 19% for tackles per 90, illustrating both his creative flair and his robustness what will undoubtedly be required against the in-form opposition.

Lauded as "world-class" by Dean Saunders, Mount's previous years in Chelsea colours are key in remembering the calibre of the player, scoring 13 goals and providing 16 assists last term, and providing a scintillating threaded pass through to Kai Havertz against Manchester City the season before, an assist that proved the match-winning ball in the Champions League finale.

With everything on the line on Tuesday night, Potter must consider the value of including Mount in the starting fold, and with a buoying win last time out, fluidity and confidence might have received the boost it needed in a key moment of the campaign.

The dynamic midfielder has been dubbed a "manager's dream" by Peter Crouch, and he could indeed make Potter's European hopes come true if provided the platform to unearth his very best form once again.