There cannot have been many moments during Lamine Yamal’s short, golden career when the Barcelona winger has had to let another wonderkid dominate the stage. The accolades have come his way but it was different at Stamford Bridge.
Lamine Yamal was barely given a kick by Marc Cucurella, who delighted in neutralising his international teammate, and was unable to do anything to make his first meeting with Estêvão Willian live up to expectations.
The battle between two of the best youngsters in the world could hardly have been won more emphatically by Chelsea’s boy from Brazil. This was Estêvão seizing his opportunity to prove that the hype is justified.
The 18‑year‑old, who is three months older than Lamine Yamal, tore Barça to shreds and it is not an exaggeration to say that the Brazilian looked like Lionel Messi when he scored a goal that will surely go down as one of the most captivating solo efforts in Champions League history.
No wonder Enzo Maresca did not hesitate to start Estêvão against the champions of Spain. This was the teenager’s fourth goal in his past four starts for Chelsea. Talk about fearless. Talk about making an impact. Estêvão, remember, moved to England only last summer. It would not have been surprising if Chelsea had eased him in gently. Sometimes, though, exceptions have to be made.
Chelsea have bet big on Estêvão, paying £52m to sign him from Palmeiras, and they must have felt smug when he put them two up against Barça by rounding off a spectacular run with a firecracker of a shot at Joan García’s near post.
It all happened so quickly. Pau Cubarsí was left with twisted blood and Estêvão had the strength to hold off a challenge from Alejandro Balde. Barça did not know where to look. The ball was glued to Estêvão’s feet, even though he was moving at blistering speed, and the shot with his weaker right foot was unloaded before anyone had time to react.
Not that Estêvão becoming the third teenager – after Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé – to score in his first three Champions League starts was the only highlight for Chelsea. They delivered another convincing performance without the injured Cole Palmer and are up to fifth in the standings after putting three past Barça without reply.
Maresca is building something. Driven on by another outstanding midfield display from Moisés Caicedo, Chelsea overwhelmed Barça. Hansi Flick’s side lost their captain, Ronald Araújo, to a red card at the end of a torrid first half and look increasingly unlikely to finish in the top eight after taking seven points from their first five games.
Barça were pallid. An early miss from Ferran Torres, who shot wide after a defensive mix-up, was the best they had to offer. The 37-year-old Robert Lewandowski was ineffective up front, Cucurella relished the task of dealing with Lamine Yamal’s runs down the right and there was never any point when Barça looked capable of dealing with Chelsea’s prowess at dead balls.
There was frustration for Enzo Fernández, who had two goals disallowed from set pieces when the game was goalless. Chelsea just had to trust themselves, though. They recovered from a loose start and dominated midfield. Caicedo, Fernández and Reece James were simply too physical for Frenkie de Jong, Fermín López and Eric García.
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 almost worked when Estêvão released the Portuguese forward, whose shot went over.
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 Cucurella and the left-back’s cutback ended with Jules Koundé bundling Neto’s flick into his own net.
The concession summed up Barça’s half. They had faded as an attacking force 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.
Barcelona 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 an assist for James got an assist. Really, though, it was all about Estêvão. He took the ball from James, ran at Cubarsí and wriggled into the tiniest of gaps. Balde came across but Estêvão is stronger than he looks. Stamford Bridge erupted when his shot flew into the top corner.
Barça were beaten by sheer brilliance. It was 3-0 when Fernández unselfishly squared for Delap and the substitute clipped home his first goal since June. Chelsea cruised. They host Arsenal on Sunday and will know anything is possible with Estêvão in this mood.
