LONDON — Chelsea rolled back the years with an imperious Champions League performance on Tuesday, sweeping aside a toothless Barcelona, 3-0, to take a hefty step towards securing an automatic qualifying place and leaving the Spaniards fighting to avoid a playoff.
After an early own goal and a red card for Barcelona’s captain Ronald Araujo at the end of the first half, teenager Estevao smashed in a fabulous second and Liam Delap got the third, and the Londoners also had three goals ruled out.
“It is a huge night for Estevao, a huge night for the whole club,” said Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca. “Winning the Club World Cup has been important for the players in terms of confidence, they realize they can win against any team. A winning mentality is the only way to build something important.
“If Barcelona don’t have the ball they don’t feel comfortable, so we tried to keep the ball.”
It was like the old days at Stamford Bridge, when taking on and beating the cream of Europe was the norm, as Chelsea made all the running, passing crisply and constantly probing down both flanks.
Not for Barcelona, though, who were the palest shadow of the sides who used to keep possession with such ease before relentlessly carving out opportunities. On Tuesday, they barely held the ball for three passes, let alone built any sustained pressure.
Their defense too looked ragged and they were saved only by the officials as Enzo Fernandez had a goal ruled out for handball after five minutes and another for offside. — Reuters
