Chelsea produced a kind of attacking show that Stamford Bridge hasn’t seen in a while, as they swept aside a 10-man Barcelona 3–0 in the Champions League. It ended up being their biggest margin of victory ever over Barça, and it briefly pushed them into the top eight of the league-phase standings.
Softfootball predicted a very tight encounter in the pre-match review, and in all honesty nothing could prepare you for the one-sided display that was dealt to Barcelona by Chelsea.
The Blues actually had the ball in the net early on, but it got chalked off for a handball, which only added more noise to the already loud stadium. And then, somehow, Ferran Torres missed a pretty huge chance from around 10 yards, one of those moments only he will understand.
As things opened up, Chelsea looked sharper, though Barcelona were lively on the counter with Lamine Yamal pretty much involved in everything. Midway through the half, Estévão whipped in a free-kick, and Enzo Fernández nodded it home, but that one was offside too.
Chelsea did finally break through. Marc Cucurella drilled in a low cross, and after Torres and Jules Koundé both messed up their clearances, the ball basically trickled in off Koundé. Not exactly a beautiful goal, but they all count.
Barça pushed a bit afterwards, but Moisés Caicedo was everywhere in midfield, cutting things out and making sure nothing dangerous really developed. Right before halftime, Ronald Araújo flew into a wild challenge on Cucurella, picked up a second yellow, and left Barcelona with a mountain to climb.
Five minutes into the second half, Andrey Santos thought he’d doubled the lead, but Garnacho had wandered offside earlier in the move.
Still, Chelsea were controlling the match now, and Estévão’s brilliant solo run and finish finally made it 2–0 Honestly, the goal felt totally deserved at that point, and with Enzo Marseca heaping praises on the Brazilian in the pre-game interview, it was only proper that Estevao delivered.
Rashford and Raphinha came on but didn’t really change anything for Barça as the Spanish giant struggled.
On the other hand, Chelsea’s own sub, Liam Delap, sealed it with a composed finish, his first-ever Champions League goal. Fernández sliced through Barcelona’s offside line by barely a few centimetres before squaring it for Delap, who tucked it in at the far post.
After the game Chelsea taunted Barcelona with a post of just the scoreboard via their official X account.
They posted:
Chelsea, now beaten only once in their last ten meetings with Barcelona, will see this as a huge confidence booster. They’re unbeaten in six games, while Barça probably have to start thinking seriously about a possible Champions League play-off just to reach the knockouts.
