Chelsea's difficult run of results continued after going down 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League last 16 first-leg on Wednesday evening.
Ben Chilwell, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hakim Ziyech returned from the Blues' 1-1 draw against West Ham United, while Sebastien Haller made his Champions League debut for Dortmund.
In a very quiet opening, the Blues came close to the breakthrough late in the half where a clipped effort by Joao Felix hit the crossbar after a reverse pass by Kai Havertz.
Dortmund seized control midway through the second half when Karim Adeyemi met Raphael Guerreiro's ball in his own half and beat Enzo Fernandez for a pace before rounding Kepa Arrizabalaga for a tap-in.
The Premier League side made a few changes from the bench in the hope of reverting matters and had Marc Cucurella on for Mykhailo Mudryk as well as Mason Mount for Chilwell.
Chelsea did edge towards the equaliser in the closing minutes with a fierce shot by Koulibaly in the area, but the defensive nous of Emre Can and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel kept out the defender.
Another threat from Chelsea came in the dying minutes after a curling strike on the edge of the area by Enzo drew a remarkable near post save off Kobel and saw Dortmund to victory.
SL Benfica claimed a crucial 2-0 win over Club Brugge in their last 16 first-leg encounter at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Brugge manager Scott Parker made two changes from their last match in Denis Odoi and Kamal Sowah, whereas Benfica started Goncalo Ramos and Rafa Silva after their previous clash against Braga.
After a slow opening, the host looked to have gone ahead through a smart header by Odoi following a free-kick but it was ruled out due to the forward having strayed in an offside position.
The Portuguese outfit grabbed the lead on 51 minute after Joao Mario finished off from the penalty-spot following a foul on Ramos in the six-yard area.
Brugge were unable to stage a response and conceded again with two minutes to go through a smart finish by substitute David Neres after the host failed to deal with a curling ball.
The defeat leaves the Belgians with a mountain to climb in the return-leg in three weeks time, while Benfica will have their tails up following this victory.
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