Chelsea delivered a commanding efficiency to brush apart Barcelona within the Champions League on Tuesday, with goalscorer Liam Delap asserting that the Blues are solely simply starting to point out their true potential.
The beautiful show at Stamford Bridge noticed Enzo Maresca’s youthful facet overwhelm the La Liga giants, marking what’s arguably the Italian’s best second in his 18 months on the helm.
The night was illuminated by an outrageous particular person effort from Brazilian teenager Estevao, although the victory was sealed by a debut residence objective for £30million summer season signing Delap. He clinically transformed Enzo Fernandez’s exact cross to make it 3-0, capping a memorable evening for the membership.
Reflecting on the triumph, Delap advised Chelsea’s membership web site: “It was unbelievable. You develop up dreaming of nights like this. We had a sport plan and everybody executed it rather well.”
He added: “I consider we’re constructing one thing actually good right here. We’re working collectively on daily basis and we’re getting higher and higher. We come into each sport with large perception. We confirmed that we are able to do it in opposition to anybody.”
This very good displaying has revitalised Chelsea’s Champions League marketing campaign, after going through a disappointing draw away in opposition to Qarabag.
The win over Barcelona now means two victories from their remaining three group matches will seemingly safe direct passage to the last-16, bypassing the February play-off spherical and including important momentum to their promising season.
Hansi Flick’s Barcelona struggled to counter Chelsea’s attacking fluency and relentless want to regain possession.
Delap supplied tactical perception into their method, stating: “We knew how sturdy Barcelona are and what number of good gamers they’ve, however we additionally knew that their excessive line is so excessive. We needed to move the ball about to create that house.”
He added: “We knew that we would have liked to be defensively strong and that we may damage them. Defensively everybody was actually strong.”
Estevao, already a fan favorite in west London, additional cemented his burgeoning repute.
His spectacular objective, which put Chelsea 2-0 up early within the second half, noticed him expertly slip previous defender Pau Cubarsi, glide previous Alejandro Balde, and unleash an unstoppable, rising end into the online.
This efficiency notably overshadowed fellow 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, who had little impression for the Spanish facet.
Praising his younger teammate, Delap remarked: “He’s so younger however he’s so thrilling. He’s so uncooked and he’s obtained the world at his ft in the mean time. He’s simply obtained to remain grounded and hold working onerous.”
