Champions League: Chelsea 3 (Kounder OG 27, Estêvão 55, Delap 73) Barcelona 0
The jeers when Lamine Yamal trudged off with 10 minutes left said it all. It was billed as an epic showdown between two of the best young players in the world but in the end it was barely a contest. Lamine Yamal was shoved to the margins by Marc Cucurella, who could not have done a better job in neutralising the Barcelona winger, and was powerless to stop himself being left in the shade by Chelsea’s boy from Brazil.
This will go down as the night when Estêvão Willian proved that he is the real deal. There have been flashes from the 18-year-old Brazilian since he joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for £52 million last summer but nothing quite on this level. Estêvão, who is only three months older than Lamine Yamal, delighted in tearing Barça to shreds. He left Pau Cubarsí and Alejandro Balde with twisted blood on his way to scoring an outrageous solo goal, confirming that Chelsea have added something very special to their array of young talents.
No wonder Enzo Maresca did not hesitate to start Estêvão against the champions of La Liga. Barça could not handle him and they could not deal with Chelsea’s power. Hansi Flick’s side lost their captain, Ronald Araújo to a red card, before half-time, and were well beaten. Chelsea, who moved into the top eight of the Champions League standings, go into Sunday’s match with Arsenal in fine fettle.
It was impossible not to be drawn in by the nostalgia around this fixture. There have been so many unforgettable moments down the years – bringing up Ronaldinho’s outrageous toe-poke in 2005, Andrés Iniesta’s dramatic equaliser in front of the Shed End in 2009 and Chelsea somehow winning that semi-final against Barça in 2012 does not even begin to cover it – and it seemed unlikely that the latest instalment would be short of incident.
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So it proved. There was a disallowed goal for Chelsea after four minutes, Wesley Fofana penalised for handball before teeing up Enzo Fernández to score, and a relentlessness to both sides at first. Barça, pressing high, soon should have led. They forced the error when Fofana and Moisés Caicedo tried to play out from the back but Ferran Torres was wasteful after being found by Lamine Yamal, shooting wide with only Robert Sánchez to beat.
The chance seemed to rattle Chelsea. They were a little loose at first, allowing Fermín López and Frenkie de Jong to pick their passes in midfield. Yet the mood shifted when Caicedo blocked a run from Torres with a shuddering challenge. Now Chelsea stepped up and looked to impose themselves physically. Now it was Barça who looked breathless. Forced back, their composure disappeared. They were relieved to see the offside flag go up when Fernández headed in a free-kick at the far post.
Chelsea realised there was no reason to be fearful. Much of Maresca’s plan was modelled around targeting Barça’s high wire offside trap. He deployed the busy, bustling Pedro Neto as the central striker – a surprise move given that João Pedro and Liam Delap were available – and the plan should have worked when Estêvão Willian slipped the Portuguese forward through to blaze wildly over.
Stamford Bridge roared in encouragement. Estêvão, brave and skilful on the right, was outshining Lamine Yamal in the battle of the teenage wing sensations and Chelsea got the goal they deserved when they again exploited Barça’s frailties at set pieces. They took a short corner on the right, Alejandro Garnacho found Marc Cucurella and the left-back’s cutback ended with Jules Koundé bundling Neto’s flick into his own net.
The concession of such a messy goal summed up Barça’s half. They had faded as an attacking force, with Robert Lewandowski making little impression up front, and played with an air of entitlement. The outrage when play was waved on after Lamine Yamal tried to buy a free-kick off Cucurella was absurd. Araújo was booked for dissent and was soon sheepishly removing the captain’s armband after receiving a second yellow for fouling Cucurella just before half-time.
Barça could not live with Chelsea’s controlled aggression. Marcus Rashford came on for Torres at the start of the second half but nothing changed. Chelsea remained dominant. Andrey Santos came on for Malo Gusto, who was on a booking, and soon had a goal disallowed for offside. Barça had accepted their fate. The challenges were feeble and they were in trouble when a turnover in midfield in the 55th minute led to Chelsea doubling their lead.
The record books will, of course, show that Reece James got an assist. Really, though, it was all Estêvão’s own work. There was only one thing on his mind when he took the ball from James on the right. This was Estêvão’s moment. He dribbled at speed and charged into the area. He pushed Cubarsí back, pushing the young centre-back into a horrible position. Cubarsí did not know what to do. Estêvão, all low centre of gravity, simply wriggled past him. It was like watching Lionel Messi. Who knew the gap was there? Estêvão saw it, and on he went. He is slender but strong. Balde came across but Estêvão was powerful to hold him off and make space for a right-footed shot that flew into Joan García’s top corner.
Barça were beaten by sheer brilliance. Chelsea ripped them apart. It was 3-0 when Fernández unselfishly squared for Delap and the substitute clipped home his first goal since June.
Meanwhile at the Etihad, Manchester City weren’t quite so unfortunate against Leverkusen. Alejandro Grimaldo opened the scoring on 23 minutes before Patrik Schick added a second for the visitors after the break.
There was also defeat for Newcastle against Marseille despite Harvey Barnes opening their account early. The winger netted in the sixth minute but a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw the hosts come away with the points. – Guardian
Tuesday’s Champions League results:
Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona
Manchester City 0-2 Leverkusen
Marseille 2-1 Newcastle United
Ajax 0-2 Benfica
Dortmund 4-0 Villarreal
Galatasaray 0-1 Union Saint-Gilloise
Bodo/Glimt 2-3 Juventus
Napoli 2-0 Qarabag FK
Slavia Praha 0-0 Athletic Bilbao
