Jacob Steinberg was at Stamford Bridge tonight. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Enzo Maresca talks to Amazon Prime. “It’s a good win … no more than that … they are all important games … to beat Barcelona is always nice … we are happy today … if Barcelona don’t have the ball they don’t feel comfortable … so we tried to keep the ball … the defensive part is always important … clean sheet … you need to do that if you want to achieve important things … it is a huge night for Estêvão … a huge night for the whole club … winning the Club World Cup has been important for the players in terms of confidence … they realise they can win against any team … a winning mentality … it is the only way to build something important … now is time to think about Arsenal.”
Estêvão, delight radiating from the young man’s smile, speaks to Amazon Prime. “I don’t really have any words to sum up how I’m feeling … the perfect night … I’m grateful to God … onwards and upwards … [the goal] just happened before I even knew it … I wriggled through … I hope to score many more … it was definitely the most special moment of my career … I am so happy my family were here watching … from the moment I arrived here at Chelsea I felt a connection with the fans … I hope I can score many more goals and keep them happy.”
Perhaps things would have been different had Ferran Torres not missed a sitter when one-on-one with Robert Sánchez on six minutes. But he did, and Barcelona offered absolutely nothing else all evening. Chelsea were giving them the runaround long before Ronald Araújo got himself sent off, and thoroughly deserved their victory. The 3-0 scoreline doesn’t flatter them in any way whatsoever, not least because they had another three goals chalked off, correctly so, though the margins were small. Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernández and Marc Cucurella were relentless; Pedro Neto and the wonderkid Estêvão a delight to watch. The win springs Chelsea up into fifth; Barcelona, down in 15th, have work to do if they’re to avoid the play-offs.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 3 | Inter Milan | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| 4 | Borussia Dortmund | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | Man City | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 | PSG | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| 9 | Real Madrid | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 10 | Liverpool | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 11 | Galatasaray | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 12 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 13 | Bayer Leverkusen | 5 | -2 | 8 |
| 14 | Sporting | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 15 | Barcelona | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 16 | Qarabag FK | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 17 | Atalanta | 4 | -2 | 7 |
| 18 | Napoli | 5 | -3 | 7 |
| 19 | Marseille | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 20 | Atletico Madrid | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 21 | Juventus | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 22 | Union Saint Gilloise | 5 | -7 | 6 |
| 23 | PSV | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 24 | Monaco | 4 | -2 | 5 |
| 25 | AE Pafos | 4 | -3 | 5 |
| 26 | Club Brugge | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 27 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 4 | -4 | 4 |
| 28 | Athletic Bilbao | 5 | -5 | 4 |
| 29 | Benfica | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 30 | Slavia Prague | 5 | -6 | 3 |
| 31 | Bodo/Glimt | 5 | -4 | 2 |
| 32 | Olympiacos | 4 | -7 | 2 |
| 33 | Copenhagen | 4 | -8 | 1 |
| 34 | Villarreal | 5 | -8 | 1 |
| 35 | FC Kairat | 4 | -9 | 1 |
| 36 | Ajax | 5 | -15 | 0 |
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FULL TIME: Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona
Chelsea were excellent to a man. Estêvão in particular.
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90 min +2: Chelsea pass it around, and their fans enjoy them doing it. You know the drill.
90 min +1: Christensen tries to mark his return to the Bridge with a goal … but only manages to send his long-range effort miles wide right. Sanchez shepherds it out of play.
90 min: There will be three additional minutes.
88 min: If the scoreline stays the same, this will be Chelsea’s biggest-ever victory over Barcelona, surpassing this one from March 2005.
86 min: Cucurella and Fernandez play a little keep-ball near the Barcelona corner flag. Raphinha considers throwing a tanty, but his heart isn’t really in it, and he stops waving his arms around fairly quickly.
84 min: This match is petering out now. Chelsea’s work long done. Barcelona have nothing. “Chelsea’s XDG (expected disallowed goal) metric has been excellent tonight,” writes Justin Kavanagh. Ssh, for goodness sake, you’ll be giving people ideas. “But that last one confused me. Does it go down as an XUDG because it was undisallowed? Football used to be much simpler. And Barcelona used to be so much better at doing goals and defending and stuff.”
82 min: Chelsea respond with a double change of their own. George and Acheampong replace James and Estêvão, the latter departing to the sort of ear-splitting ovation his performance – and that goal – deserves.
80 min: Yamal and Balde are replaced by Olmo and Martin. Estêvão has certainly won the battle of the teenage geniuses this evening.
78 min: Delap crosses from the left. Estêvão, coming in from the right, traps but allows the ball to get stuck under his foot. He lays off to Fernandez, who aims a low drive towards the bottom left. Garcia claims. Chelsea clearly want more.
76 min: That’s Neto’s last contribution to this rout. He’s replaced by Gittens. Chelsea have been magnificent, though Barcelona’s defence has been a shambles from the get-go.
74 min: … but then the flag goes up for offside. Is this a fourth disallowed goal?! For a moment, it would seem so … until VAR gets out the rulers to confirm that the goal stands! Bedlam!
GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona (Delap 73)
Neto dribbles down the middle, then slips Fernandez clear down the inside-left channel. Fernandez unselfishly rolls across to Delap, who whips a sidefoot into the bottom right. So, so easy.
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71 min: Estêvão is found in more space down the right; he enters the box and cuts back for Fernandez, when he’d have been better taking a shot himself. The move breaks down, but Barcelona are being opened up repeatedly, with almost contemptuous ease.
70 min: Sanchez bowls out to Neto, who embarks on a high-speed romp down the inside-left channel. He knocks the ball past Cubarsi and backs himself in a footrace … which he wins easily. He enters the box and aims for the bottom left. Garcia spreads himself well to block at the near post, and nothing comes from the resulting corner.
68 min: A pause in play so Estêvão can retie his boots. His magic boots. The shot for his goal has been recorded by Amazon Prime at 64 miles per hour.
66 min: A loose ball is deflected down the inside-left channel. Had Delap been on his toes, he could have raced clear on goal with it, but he doesn’t react, and it dribbles through to Garcia.
64 min: Barcelona can’t get hold of the ball. Chelsea in total control. “Magic to see Steve score that blinder,” writes Matt Leonard. “Was starting to worry about the amount of disallowed goals. It was like the spirit of Tom Henning Ovrebo was haunting the Bridge.”
62 min: Barcelona need something to happen, so send on Raphinha for the uncharacteristically quiet Lewandowski. Meanwhile Fermín López makes way for the erstwhile Chelsea defender Christensen.
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60 min: James hoicks the free kick over everyone in the box. Garcia flaps worryingly underneath it. The keeper has been all over the shop since the restart … though you can’t blame him for being beaten at his near post by that Estêvão shot, such was its quality.
59 min: Estêvão is far from done. He sashays down the right touchline and confuses Balde into a foul. A free kick from a dangerous position coming up. Before it can be taken, Delap comes on for Garnacho.
57 min: That was one heck of a dribble and finish. A high-speed slalom that twisted Cubarsi’s blood. The shot roofed! Stamford Bridge en fête.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Barcelona (Estêvão 55)
… and here it is! Estêvão dribbles down the inside-right channel. Hard. Fast. Elegant. Cubarsi twisted inside and out. Balde unable to knock him off balance. A rising shot into the top-right corner from a tight angle. Garcia no chance with an unstoppable effort! What a goal! Estêvão winning the battle of the prodigies tonight!
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54 min: Garnacho advances down the left again. Onside this time. He wins a corner. James sends it to the near post, where Cubarsi heads clear. A Chelsea second looks much more likely than a Barca equaliser.
52 min: Enzo Maresca is booked for arguing the toss over a garden-variety trip by Cucurella on Yamal. All a bit disproportionate.
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51 min: Fernandes slips a cute pass down the inside-left channel for Garnacho, who reaches the byline, swivels, and sits Kounde down. He cuts back for Santos, who aims a first-time flick into the bottom left, through the weak hands of Garcia. But there’s no goal, because Garnacho had gone too early. That’s three disallowed Chelsea goals now!
49 min: Chelsea, who are now kicking towards the Shed End, stroke it around patiently. They’re in charge, and in no rush.
47 min: A measure of how miserable that first half was for Barcelona: they’re the first team in 14 years of Champions League football to score an own goal and have a man sent off. Milan against Barcelona in 2011, seeing you ask. What goes round comes round.
Barcelona get the second half started. They’ve made one change, replacing the ineffectual Ferran Torres with Marcus Rashford. Meanwhile Chelsea send on Andrey Santos for Malo Gusto.
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Half-time postbag. “This century, European football was a simple game. Dozens of teams vied for continental trophies, and at the end, a Spanish club won. But this season, neither Barcelona nor Real Madrid feel like champions in waiting, and none of the other La Liga sides in Europe seem especially strong. History tells us they’ll sort themselves out, but it feels different this year. Maybe the dominance of Spanish clubs is over” – Kári Tulinius
“With apologies to Cole Palmer, it’s great to see these heavyweight clubs go toe to toe” – Peter Oh
HALF-TIME AD BREAK. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
HALF TIME: Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona
Chelsea go into the break one goal and one man up. They’ve been as good as Barcelona have been ragged. The scoreline flatters Barca.
45 min +1: Chelsea waste the free kick for the Araujo challenge on Cucurella by overplaying. Barcelona will be relieved.
45 min: There will be two additional minutes.
RED CARD: Araujo (Barcelona)
44 min: Araujo comes sliding into Cucurella, who was preparing to advance down the left. He mistimes the challenge terribly, scything through his man. That’s an obvious second yellow, and the Barca captain doesn’t bother complaining. He walks without fuss.
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42 min: Barca slow things down with some patient passing around the back. Then Cubarsi suddenly looks long for Torres … but too long. The big Torres chance apart, the Catalans have done very little in attack.
40 min: Gusto takes a huge handful of Balde’s shirt and goes into the book. Balde would have been away down the left otherwise.
39 min: Neto considers shooting from the edge of the D. The crowd encourage him. He declines the offer. He may as well have taken a pop, because seconds later Fernandez is flagged offside down the left.
37 min: Yamal drops deep and tries to ping Torres clear, but there’s no room between the two Chelsea centre-backs. The door slams shut. Chelsea on top at both ends of the park.
35 min: Yamal drives hard down the right and looks to have got the better of Cucurella … but the defender doesn’t give up, and fights his way back, forcing Yamal to run the ball out for a goal kick. Yamal, who wants a corner but isn’t getting one, reacts in the frustrated style.
33 min: Balde strides down the left and lays off for Torres, who crosses low. From the edge of the box, Yamal tries to flip a first-time shot across Sanchez and into the bottom right. But there’s no pace on the shot and it’s easy for Sanchez.
32 min: Araújo is booked for having his say on the matter.
31 min: The best form of defence for Barcelona is almost certainly attack. Yamal drives down the right and goes over Cucurella’s leg, but he’s not able to buy a free kick.
30 min: James lashes over the bar from 25 yards. Barcelona are all over the shop!
29 min: There’s a brief check for offside – did Cucurella go too early? But no, no he didn’t, and it’s third-time lucky for Chelsea!
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona (Kounde 27 og)
A short corner routine releases Cucurella down the inside-right channel. He crosses low into the mixer. Neto backflicks in a crowded six-yard box. Torres hacks off the line but the ball pinballs off Kounde and rebounds into the net, dribbling over the line apologetically. It had been coming.
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27 min: Garnacho dances down the left and cuts back for Fernandez, who attempts to flick into the bottom right from ten yards. Garcia sticks out a leg to deflect over the bar for a corner, from which …
26 min: Fernandez, who already has had two goals disallowed, is not disheartened. He has another go for goal, this time from the edge of the D. Blocked. It’s all Chelsea at the moment.
24 min: Chelsea come again, and Neto drives into acres down the right before ballooning a shot high and wide. He only had Garcia to beat. Barcelona look very fragile at the back.
23 min: The goal would have stood had Chalobah, in an offside position, not feather-flicked the ball towards Fernandez at the far stick. He didn’t need to flick on.
22 min: James dummies, then Estêvão swings the free kick into the box instead. The ball bounces all the way through to Fernandez, who heads home from a couple of yards at the far post. But the flag immediately goes up for offside. Fernandez denied again!
21 min: Garnacho is clipped by Kounde out on the Chelsea left. A clumsy challenge and a free kick in a dangerous position. Everyone lines up just inside the box, waiting for James to deliver.
20 min: The game’s settled down a little bit after that wild and wonderful start.
19 min: Neto, dropping deep, tries to release Gusto down the middle. Now it’s Garcia’s turn to race out of his area and blooter clear. No contact with his opponent, nothing to see here.
17 min: Thankfully Lopez is absolutely fine. There was no sinister intent from Sanchez, and luckily the blow was more glancing than anything else. All good.
16 min: Lewandowski looks long for Lopez down the middle. Sanchez races out of the box and high-kicks clear. He accidentally catches Lopez’s head on the follow-through. It’s not quite Toni Schumacher on Patrick Battiston, but Lopez will have felt that. On comes the trainer.
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14 min: Yamal wanders past a couple of blue shirts with absurd insouciance, but then, having worked himself a pocket of space 25 yards out, shovels a pass forward to the invisible team-mate. Sanchez claims. Barcelona’s young superstar looks in the mood, though. So many silky touches already.
13 min: Yamal probes down the right. He sends an inswinger towards Lopez, who tries to sweep home from six yards. But he swishes and misses, then goes over under pressure from behind from Chalobah. Barcelona claim a penalty but they’re never getting one.
11 min: Yamal dribbles in from the right at speed. He can’t quite one-two his way into a shooting position, and the ball breaks to Lewandowski, who can’t get it out from under his feet. Chalobah blocks the eventual snapshot and Chelsea clear their lines. No way is this ending goalless.
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9 min: James has a whack from distance. Easy for Garcia in the Barca goal. This is breathless. These two clubs rarely disappoint when they meet, one way or another, and the early signs tonight are good.
8 min: Cucurella strides down the left and looks for Neto in the middle with a low cross. Araujo hooks clear. This is a high-octane start from both teams. “Apparently Barça’s kit is ‘Team Gold colour with touches of Persian violet and black, inspired by the classic colours of the teams in which Kobe [Bryant] played’,” reports marketing-blurb enthusiast Charles Antaki. “So maybe vibes of Harlem Globetrotters-type basketball, or perhaps classic Wolverhampton Wanderers. Though for their sake, not the current lot.”
6 min: Barcelona should be leading. James plays a sloppy pass out from the back. Yamal intercepts and feeds Torres. He’s clear on the penalty spot! He opens his body and sidefoots towards the bottom-right corner … but wide! What a miss! Somewhere in the multiverse, it’s already 1-1. What. A. Start.
4 min: … there’s a scramble in the Chelsea box. Fofana chests down on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box and cuts back for Fernandez, who slams home from close range. But the flag immediately pops up for handball. Chest then ball. There’s not much in it, but the on-field decision stands. Barcelona couldn’t have complained too much had that stood.
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3 min: It’s loud in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham tonight. Louder still when Estêvão wins the first corner of the evening down the right. From which …
2 min: A scrappy start. Chalobah rather needlessly stands on Lewandowski’s ankle. The striker goes over theatrically, some nonsense which may have saved the Chelsea defender a booking. Chalobah couldn’t have complained had the referee flashed yellow, but it’s early too, so either way, he gets away with one.
The coaches Enzo Maresca and Hansi Flick embrace … then the whistle goes and Chelsea kick off. Barcelona are kicking towards the Shed in this first half.
The teams are out! Chelsea wear their royal blue, while Barcelona sport a biscuity number with a dark-blue-and-black collar that gives off strong Internazionale vibes. You’d think they’d not want reminding about the Nerazzurri, given what happened earlier this year, but people deal with heartbreak in different ways. Anyway, a rip-roaring atmosphere at the Bridge, befitting a clash of two genuine European heavyweights, and we’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Here are the Champions League standings going into tonight’s match. The table is hot off the press, taking into account the results of both early kick-offs, which are just in and saw Benfica win the battle of the fallen giants 2-0 at Ajax, while Union Saint-Gilloise went to Galatasaray and emerged 1-0 winners. Ajax are now the only team in the competition without a single point, while Galatasaray miss out on the chance to join Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Internazionale at the top.
Chelsea and Barcelona are both just outside the promised land of the top eight, so tonight’s game at Stamford Bridge isn’t completely without jeopardy. Neither side will want to lose any more ground in the race to automatically qualify for the last 16 and bodyswerve the play-off round.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 3 | Inter Milan | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| 4 | Man City | 4 | 7 | 10 |
| 5 | PSG | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| 6 | Newcastle | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| 7 | Real Madrid | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 9 | Galatasaray | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| 11 | Barcelona | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| 12 | Chelsea | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 13 | Sporting | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 14 | Borussia Dortmund | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 15 | Qarabag FK | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 16 | Atalanta | 4 | -2 | 7 |
| 17 | Atletico Madrid | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 18 | Union Saint Gilloise | 5 | -7 | 6 |
| 19 | PSV | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 20 | Monaco | 4 | -2 | 5 |
| 21 | AE Pafos | 4 | -3 | 5 |
| 22 | Bayer Leverkusen | 4 | -4 | 5 |
| 23 | Club Brugge | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 24 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 4 | -4 | 4 |
| 25 | Napoli | 4 | -5 | 4 |
| 26 | Marseille | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 27 | Juventus | 4 | -1 | 3 |
| 28 | Benfica | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 29 | Athletic Bilbao | 4 | -5 | 3 |
| 30 | Bodo/Glimt | 4 | -3 | 2 |
| 31 | Slavia Prague | 4 | -6 | 2 |
| 32 | Olympiacos | 4 | -7 | 2 |
| 33 | Villarreal | 4 | -4 | 1 |
| 34 | Copenhagen | 4 | -8 | 1 |
| 35 | FC Kairat | 4 | -9 | 1 |
| 36 | Ajax | 5 | -15 | 0 |
Enzo Maresca speaks to Amazon Prime. “[Estêvão] is doing well since he joined us … he is ready for tonight … we try to use different players … everything starts with the gameplan … they are all good players … we expect to have some space in behind … [Barcelona] are a fantastic team … quality players … all over … they work all together … they defend well … always create chances … we go game by game … after tonight we start to think about Arsenal [in the Premier League this weekend].”
Chelsea make five changes to their starting XI after the 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday. Moisés Caicedo, Estêvão, Alejandro Garnacho, Wesley Fofana and Malo Gusto come in for João Pedro, Andrey Santos, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Tosin Adarabioyo, all of whom drop to the bench.
Barcelona have plenty of goals in their starting XI. Ferran Torres leads the way with nine so far this season, while Robert Lewandowski has eight, Fermín López seven, and Lamine Yamal six. Marcus Rashford (six) and Raphinha (three) must make do with the bench.
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The teams
Chelsea: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, James, Caicedo, Estevao, Fernandez, Garnacho, Pedro Neto.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Delap, Bynoe-Gittens, Santos, Joao Pedro, Hato, George, Acheampong, Guiu, Buonanotte.
Barcelona: Joan Garcia, Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde, Eric Garcia, de Jong, Yamal, Lopez, Torres, Lewandowski.
Subs: Szczesny, Kochen, Raphinha, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Gerard, Olmo, Bernal, Dro Fernandez, Bardghji.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia).
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Preamble
For some, the modern rivalry between Chelsea and Barcelona will forever be defined by this ...
… and for others by this …
… but whichever way you prefer it, more often than not it delivers. Goals! Memories! Drama! Throw in Chelsea’s record of scoring in each of their last 19 European games, Barcelona finding the net in their last 24 Champions League fixtures, the fact that none of Chelsea’s last 52 European fixtures have finished 0-0, and the stat of Barca’s last 20 Champions League games producing an average of 4.8 goals per 90 minutes, and this promises to be a doozy. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, and if by pointing out all of this, we’ve tempted the Football Gods into serving up a rare stinker, then we’ll make our apologies after the game. It’s on!
