Barcelona were thoroughly outplayed, outclassed and dominated in every aspect by a merciless Chelsea side 3–0 on Tuesday night.
A Jules Koundé own goal halfway through the first half got the Blues party started at Stamford Bridge. Then, an unforgivable Ronald Araújo red card condemned the Catalans as the floodgates opened.
Estêvão and Liam Delap added two more in the second half. Still, it could’ve been worse. Chelsea had three disallowed goals compared to Barcelona’s two shots on target all night.
Flick’s side are now 15th in the Champions League league phase standings and could drop further down after tomorrow’s games. Direct qualification to the round of 16 seems like an unrealistic prospect.
Even more worrying for Barcelona is how emphatically Chelsea toyed with them, confirming their 2024–25 success and form is nothing but a distant memory.
Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Chelsea (4-2-3-1)
GK: Joan García—6.2: Allowed as many goals as he had saves. He wasn’t the biggest problem, but he also didn’t help contain the Chelsea onslaught.
RB: Jules Koundé—5.1: Yet another worrying performance from the Frenchman who looks like a shadow of his 2024–25 self. Alejandro Garnacho got the better of him all night and his own goal added insult to injury.
CB: Ronald Araújo—4.9: A dreadful night for the Uruguayan. Simply unforgivable to get dismissed in less than 45 minutes. Continues to leave plenty to be desired in big games.
CB: Pau Cubarsí—6.5: The teenager’s struggles continue. He played Cucurella onside for Chelsea’s opener, got beaten badly by Estêvão for the second goal and Pedro Neto nearly got by him to score Chelsea’s third. Looked slow, out of position and nervous all game.
LB: Alejandro Balde—5.7: Didn’t have any impact going forward and was constantly out of position defensively. Failed to react quickly enough to help Cubarsí on Estêvão’s goal and played everyone onside for Chelsea’s third.
DM: Eric García—5.6: Playing in Pedri’s role in the heart of midfield, he had the least touches of any outfield player that played the entirety of the game (39). That pretty much sums up his performance.
CM: Frenkie de Jong—6.1: His costly turnover led to Chelsea’s second. Was unable to establish control in midfield as the hosts played by him with ease.
AM: Fermín López—5.9: A very quiet night for him. He looked frustrated with his lack of involvement and dropped deeper into midfield to try and get the ball—an area where he’s far from his best and it showed.
RW: Lamine Yamal—7.5: Was Barcelona’s most menacing player in the early exchanges, but that’s not saying much. He failed to be his electrifying best and Cucurella got the better of him all night.
LW: Ferran Torres—6.4: Squandered Barça’s biggest chance of the night. The game could’ve been completely different had he put Barcelona ahead.
ST: Robert Lewandowski—6.0: Looked unable to handle the pace and intensity of the match. He always seemed a half-step slower than every player on the pitch.
Subs not used: Diego Kochen (GK), Wojciech Szczęsny (GK), Roony Bardghji, Dro Fernández, Marc Bernal, Marc Casadó
Chelsea (4-2-3-1)
Starting XI: Robert Sánchez; Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella; Reece James, Moisés Caicedo; Enzo Fernández, Estêvão, Alejandro Garnacho; Pedro Neto
Subs used: Andrey Santos, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens, Josh Acheampong, Tyrique George.
Barcelona Player of the Match: Lamine Yamal
Player of the Match: Reece James (Chelsea)
Chelsea 3–0 Barcelona—How It Unfolded at Stamford Bridge
A modern age European classic started with frenetic pace and action on both penalty areas. Enzo Fernández thought he scored the game’s opener after a deflection, but the goal was ruled out for handball in the build-up. Still inside five minutes, Ferran Torres found himself completely alone with only Robert Sánchez to beat, but he dragged his short-distance shot just wide of the goal.
Although Barcelona had more of the ball in the opening half-hour, it was Chelsea who looked more menacing. A set-piece saw Fernández beat García, but he was caught offside for the second time.
Another dead ball action saw Marc Cucurella play a darting low cross that Pedro Neto flicked towards goal. The ball bounced off Jules Koundé and Torres managed to stop it, but the Frenchman touched the ball for a second time to bury it into his own goal, giving Chelsea the lead in the 27th minute.
Ronald Araújo is sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a challenge on Marc Cucurella 🟥 pic.twitter.com/t99W45n5Vs
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 25, 2025
Barcelona struggled to generate any response and things went from bad to worse before halftime. Ronald Araújo arrived late and threw himself into a clumsy challenge on Cucurella, leaving referee Slavko Vinčić no other option than show him his second yellow card of the first half. The visitors were forced to play the entirety of the second half undermanned.
The Blues continued their onslaught out of the tunnel, sensing an opportunity to pummel the Spanish giants. Andrey Santos buried a chance early, but a goal was disallowed for a third time after Alejandro Garnacho was flagged for offside.
Stamford Bridge erupted into pure frenzy soon after. Teenage sensation Estêvão truly announced himself in the Champions League with a spectacular goal. He got away from Pau Cubarsí and Alejandro Balde before he fired a rocket into the roof of the net to double Chelsea’s in the 55th minute.
Estêvão, that is BRILLIANT 👏
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) November 25, 2025
The young Brazilian star dances through Barcelona's defense ✨ pic.twitter.com/KEQwlZjeKx
Playing with 10 men, Barcelona looked unable to string together three passes, let alone generate any semblance of a goal that could give them some sort of life.
A quick counter saw Neto feed Fernández who played a first-time pass for Liam Delap to score his first goal of the season for Chelsea. Originally, the referee signaled for offside, but a quick VAR review corrected the decision and the Blues celebrated their third.
The hosts cruised to the finish line as Maresca even offered some rest to some key players. Barcelona registered just one shot on target during the second half.
Flick and his players have an incredible amount of work to do because, in their current state, Barcelona look nowhere near being able to compete for major trophies this season.
Chelsea vs. Barcelona Halftime Stats
Chelsea vs. Barcelona Full Time Stats
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Chelsea: Shocking Display Sees Blaugrana Slaughtered.
