As good as Estevao: £60m star is on his way to becoming "a Chelsea legend"
Well, that was about as perfect a game as Chelsea are going to have this season.
Following their win over Burnley at the weekend, Enzo Maresca’s side were given the daunting task of hosting Barcelona in the Champions League.
However, instead of wilting under the pressure, the Blues stepped up and completely blew the Spanish giants aside.
From the first minute to the last, Chelsea were exceptional, and there were more than a few standout performers, including Estevao and someone who made light work of what should’ve been a challenging task.
Estevao's magical night vs Barcelona
When Chelsea secured the services of Estevao last summer, there was a lot made of the youngster.
In fact, just a few months before that, respected analyst Ben Mattinson had labelled him a “future Ballon d’Or winner.”
Now, while there is still some way to go for that prediction to be proven true, the youngster certainly helped make it look like a good one on Tuesday night.
From practically the first minute until he came off in the 83rd, the 18-year-old was a massive threat, both in terms of his own goalscoring ability and creativity.
He was the scorer of the Blues’ all-important second goal on the night, beating two defenders with some quick feet and firing the ball into the roof of the net.
It means he is now the second-youngest player to score in his first three starts in the competition, after only Kylian Mbappé.
Unsurprisingly, the teenager left quite the impression on the watching press as well, with the Express’ Charlie Griggs awarding him a 9/10 match rating and writing that he ‘led the attacking charge at times.’
Perhaps the best thing that can be said about Estevao’s performance against Barcelona is that he totally outshone the other wonderkid in Lamine Yamal.
Although the Brazilian wasn’t the only Chelsea player to get the better of the young Spaniard.
Chelsea's other standout star vs Barcelona
The brilliant thing for Maresca and Chelsea fans is that you could realistically make the case for any number of their players being the best on the pitch on Tuesday night.
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However, when it comes to the starter who really shone, potentially even more so than Estevao, it’s hard to look past Marc Cucurella.
The Spanish full-back was utterly superb against Barcelona, and even though he had the challenging task of trying to stop their free-flowing attack, he didn’t once look flustered.
Moreover, he came out comfortably on top in his duel with Yamal.
In fact, he was so dominant and so on top of the young wonderkid that he was practically anonymous throughout the match, so much so that the Stamford Bridge faithful were safe to openly mock him.
Now, it’s not the first time the former Brighton & Hove Albion ace has locked down a superstar attacker, but given the competition, it’s undoubtedly one of the more high-profile examples.
Understandably then, he also left quite the impression on Griggs, who awarded him a 9/10 match rating at full-time, writing that he ‘locked down the left flank with ease and posed a danger up front.’
That might sound like hyperbole, but the 27-year-old’s statistics prove otherwise.
Minutes
93′
Expected Assists
0.59
Tackles (Won)
5 (4)
Interceptions
1
Clearances
2
Blocked Shots
1
Recoveries
4
Aerial Duels (Won)
1 (1)
Key Passes
1
Passes
55/63
Touches
97
In his 93 minutes of action, he produced an expected assists figure of 0.59, won four of five tackles, made one interception, played one key pass, recovered the ball four times, took 97 touches, made two clearances and blocked one shot.
Ultimately, it was yet another performance that proved Cucurella is one of the best left-backs in the world, and as one content creator said, if he keeps it up, he’s well on his way to becoming “a Chelsea legend.”
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