Everything Lamine Yamal does oozes quality. Even when he is strolling about looking dejected, which he did quite a bit at Stamford Bridge, he does it with the nonchalant grace of a star. He caresses the ball rather than kicking it, generating remarkable power from limited back-lift. He plays on the balls of his feet, always alert, always able to go either way. He glides rather than runs, but does so at speed. He has already finished as runner-up in the Ballon d’Or. But he was not the best 18-year-old right-sided forward on the pitch on Tuesday, not even close.
In Estêvão, brought in from Palmeiras for a fee that could rise to £52m, Chelsea have recruited a player who could end up as one of the very best. He has been making more and more of an impression since scoring the late winner against Liverpool last month. His last four starts for Chelsea have brought four goals, and he also scored in both of Brazil’s friendlies during the international break. It’s very early, but Brazil may at last have found the player they desperately wanted to have found in Neymar.
Estevão’s goal, scored after 55 minutes to absolutely seal a win that hadn’t really been in doubt from the moment the Barcelona captain Ronald Araújo was sent off just before half-time, was a classic. In part, it was about Chelsea winning the ball back and Reece James’s pass, but mainly it was about the Brazilian scurrying at terrifying speed, feinting left and right, brushing off Alejandro Balde and Pau Cubarsí and lashing a shot high past Joan García.
The chant of “You’re just a shit Estêvão,” directed at Lamine Yamal may have been exaggeratedly harsh on the Spaniard, and may not have scanned, but there was no doubting which of the two had come out on top.
Estêvão is 80 days older and has played 22 games fewer but at the moment he looks a more robust player – and regular Premier League experience is only likely to amplify that.
It’s been a feature of the Champions League this season just how much of a physical edge Premier League teams have over their European rivals. Liverpool have struggled physically in the Premier League this season but overwhelmed Real Madrid. Newcastle beat Athletic Bilbao essentially by having some bigger blokes to attack balls in the box.
And Chelsea, after some uneasy moments in the opening quarter, by the midway point of the first half had imposed themselves on Barcelona. The ploy of using Pedro Neto and his pace through the middle was emphatically vindicated.
The opener had felt imminent for at least five minutes before it arrived. It was no great surprise it came from a set play, an area of the game in which it feels like Premier League clubs are playing with diamonds while the rest of the world is still using conkers. Barça can’t score a normal own goal, of course, but have to embellish it with a one-two in a tight space and a backheel nutmeg. However embellished the finish, though, the cause was a slick interchange from a corner that created space for Marc Cucurella to cross for Enzo Fernández.
But the advantage doesn’t just show from an attacking point of view. Lamine Yamal got the better of Cucurella only occasionally and seemed at times shocked, perhaps even disheartened by a couple of blocks.
That frustration would have serious consequences as it led to Lamine Yamal plunging over Cucurella’s leg in an attempt to win a free-kick, which in turn led to Araújo being booked for his protests. When Araújo – was he still seething? Aware of his side’s limitations? Outsmarted? – lunged at Cucurella a few minutes later the outcome was inevitable and effectively settled the game.
Perhaps Barça could have hunkered down, defended in a low block and hoped to pinch something on the break, as Everton had done at Manchester United on Monday, but it’s hard to imagine two managers more diverse in attitude than David Moyes and Hansi Flick.
A team set up to defend with a line as high as Barcelona’s really has nowhere to go when they are reduced to 10. They dropped off a bit, but Chelsea still kept driving into the space behind the back line, got a third from Liam Delap and, if they’d really needed to, could probably have added a couple more.
It’s only the group stage and things can change in the spring as accumulated fatigue begins to sap at English sides but the pattern of Premier League dominance through pace and power is clear.
Lamine Yamal was withdrawn with 10 minutes remaining, wandering to the bench with a sense of rueful resignation, pursued by a handful of half-hearted jeers. But there was no need to goad him; the battle was already lost and decisively so. Estêvão, the clear victor, left the pitch to a rapturous ovation three minutes later. His were the honours, and Chelsea’s the points.
