Chelsea send Yamal awkward message as Estevao helps tear suicidal Barcelona to shreds | OneFootball

What an awful evening to remember you decided against investing in any Estevao stock.

It felt like hype which was never representative of actual ability, that “the greatest player born in Brazil” since Neymar was the sort of unhelpful, albatross-themed billing a forward with as many senior career appearances as his 17 years on Earth when Chelsea secured his future could not possibly live up to.

Mauricio Pochettino playing a role in convincing Estevao to join, shortly before himself being shown the door, certainly seemed sub-optimal in terms of providing a stable platform for such supposed talent to develop.

Then he Jackson Storm’d the ever-loving Christ out of Lightning Lamine and those last few doubters were turned into fully-fledged believers on a transformative night for players, club and manager at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea schooled Barcelona. They beat them physically, outclassed them technically and exposed them tactically. The sense of a young and relatively inexperienced team and coach finding their feet together is building.

There will still be setbacks – Qarabag was less than three weeks ago, the memory of the Sunderland collapse will be difficult to shake off and the headloss against Manchester United was generational – but they are fewer and further between for the world champions who are providing the most competent Premier League challenge to Arsenal, and whose candidacy for the Champions League cannot be ruled out.

This was a masterclass, from the starting line-up which raised eyebrows, to the superb gameplan and impeccable execution.

Hansi Flick’s post-match reaction will presumably be a simple “so sind wir eben, kumpel,” such was his flawless impression of high line’s Ange Postecoglou. At least Spurs had a strong start to that absurd game; Barcelona went missing in the beginning, middle and end here, like a book with all the pages torn out and only the forlorn cover remaining.

That was down to Enzo Maresca’s approach and the way his players carried it out. Estevao, Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho were deployed as seeking missiles into the vast spaces behind, with Enzo Fernandez utilised as a late-arriving Frank Lampard, incisive passing included.

Moises Caicedo was phenomenal in midfield alongside the slightly shakier Reece James, while the defence generally stood up to whatever test Barcelona tried to impose.

Marc Cucurella was the inevitable focus up against Yamal but he made the most tackles – and fouls – of any player for either side in shutting the 18-year-old down, before getting Ronald Araujo sent off on the stroke of half time for a really quite idiotic tackle.

Stamford Bridge certainly noticed, treating the Ballon d’Or contender to a few renditions of “you’re just a sh*t Estevao”.

And really, that’s a compliment. Especially on a night like this, when the Brazilian forward drifts so seamlessly between penetrating through balls and labyrinthine dribbles, depending on the situation at hand.

There was only one choice to make, one route to pursue when presented with the ball wide on the right, about 30 yards out. Unfortunately for poor Pau Cubarsi it was through him; Estevao turned the centre-half inside out, held off Alejandro Balde and absolutely Giggs’d it into the roof of Joan Garcia’s net.

In doing so, he became only the third teenager to score in each of his first three Champions League starts after Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.

Chelsea had long been in control by that point, ahead through Jules Kounde’s own goal from a clever short corner routine, and fully abusing their numbers advantage.

And three disallowed goals – for handball, offside and offside again – further underlined their dominance even before Fernandez squared for Liam Delap, the Argentine having seemingly strayed.

He had, however, escaped the really quite risible Barca trap to stay on and help complete the rout.

It was fitting for Delap to score and Andrey Santos to play such a crucial role in the build-up to the second goal. Enzo Maresca nailed his starting XI and tactics, but so too his substitutions and management of a game in which Chelsea firmly announced themselves.

But the story will and should be Estevao, the poster boy for a transfer philosophy Chelsea are often mocked and derided for, the vision behind which is becoming clearer by the game. They and he are very much proper.