Estevao stunner helps rampant Chelsea to dominant win over Barcelona

The brilliant Brazilian teenager totally eclipsed Spanish wonderkid Lamine Yamal, as a rampant Chelsea side ripped Barcelona apart.

Chelsea's Estevao celebrates scoring their side's second goal of the game.

Champions League: Chelsea 3 (Kounde og 27, Estevao 55, Delap 74) Barcelona 0 

WHO needs Lamine Yamal when you have Estevao?

The brilliant Brazilian teenager totally eclipsed the Spanish wonderkid, as a rampant Chelsea side ripped Barcelona apart.

In what has become one of Europe's showpiece fixtures, rarely without drama, controversy and great goals, we had them all on another memorable night in west London.

Think back to the great goals in some of the most compelling and controversial matches between these two sides, which stood at four wins apiece and six draws before kick-off. 

Frank Lampard's spin and turn, Ronaldinho's swivel and toe-poke, Andres Iniesta's 93rd-minute winner to take Barcelona into the 2009 final, or Fernando Torres scoring in stoppage time at Camp Nou as ten-man Chelsea got through to the final three years later. More recently Lionel Messi dominated as Barcelona got the better of the Blues.

But this night belonged to Chelsea and their brilliant young Brazilian who was the talk of the town after another Champions League classic.

Enzo Maresca's men scored three goals and had three more chalked off for offside. 

Barcelona had their captain Ronald Araujo sent off shortly before the break, and ten minutes into the second half Estevao scored one of the best goals seen in the long and lively history of this fixture.

Having helped win back possession by pressing Barcelona's weakened defence, the 18-year-old collected a return pass on the right wing, cut in past one defender, swerved round another and fired a shot high into the net from a tight angle, all in the blink of an eye.

It was sensational, the sort of goal you expect to see from Yamal, who is talked about as the next superstar of world football. On Tuesday night's evidence, Estevao is more deserving of that accolade, scoring his third goal in three starts in this competition – and this was the best of them.

Yamal was a huge disappointment, hardly able to get into the game or get past Marc Cucurella, the former Barcelona trainee who is now his team mate in Spain's European Championship-winning side. 

It was no surprise to see him hooked ten minutes from the end, the young winger's body language speaking volumes as he slumped in his seat on the subs' bench.

Chelsea's Estevao celebrates after Liam Delap scored their side's third goal. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

Cucurella, by contrast, encapsulated why Chelsea won so comfortably, showing more desire, aggression and purpose than their opponents. 

Barcelona, who have perhaps more individual brilliance in their ranks, were second best from the start and could have been 4-0 down before centre-back Araujo was sent off.

There had been five red cards in 14 previous encounters, most famously John Terry's in the 2012 semi-final, and that tally went up to six when Barca captain Araujo got a second yellow card for a late tackle on Cucurella on the stroke of half-time.

The Spanish left-back had set up Chelsea's opener in the 27th minute, drilling in a low cross following a short corner. 

Pedro Neto flicked on with a backheel, but the Jules Kounde and Ferran Torres should have done better than help it trickle over the line.

Torres had earlier missed a sitter, shooting wide from 12 yards in what turned out to be Barcelona's only decent opening. 

Enzo Fernandes had two headers given offside, Andre Santos had a shot ruled out for the same reason, and Liam Delap initially thought an assistant referee's flag had ruled out his strike in the 74th minute. 

But VAR persuaded referee Slavko Vincic to overturn that decision and Delap was able to celebrate his first goal in the competition.

The margin of victory could have been bigger but for some slack finishing and good goalkeeping from Joan Garcia, who was also culpable at times.

Flick now has a job on his hands to take Barcelona into the top eight instead of having to face an extra knockout game in the New Year, while Chelsea moved up to fourth in the table and can start thinking about making a real impression on this competition.

They also host Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, one place and six points behind the leaders, and in this form – and with Estevao in their attack – will believe anything is possible.

Chelsea 4-2-3-1: Sanchez 7; Gusto 7 (Santos 45), Fofana 7, Chalobah 7, Cucurella 8; James 7 (Acheampong 82), Caicedo 7; Estevao 8 (George 82), Fernandez 9, Garnacho 8 (Delap 59); Neto 7 (Gittens 76).

Barcelona 4-2-3-1: García 5; Balde 6 (Martin 80), Cubarsi 5, Araujo 3, Kounde 4; De Jong 5, García 5; Torres 4 (Rashford 45), Lopez 5 (Christensen 62), Yamal 4 (Olmo 80); Lewandowski 4 (Raphina 62).

Referee: Slavko Vincic 7