Estêvão Willian relished the biggest night of his short career after powering Chelsea to a 3-0 victory against Barcelona in the Champions League with a special solo goal.
The 18-year-old Brazilian struggled to make sense of his emotions after a special night at Stamford Bridge. Estêvão, who joined Chelsea from Palmeiras for £52m last summer, convincingly won his battle with Barca’s Lamine Yamal and stole the limelight when he put Enzo Maresca’s side 2-0 up early in the second half.
“I don’t really have any words,” the Chelsea winger said. “It was the perfect night. It was all very quick. It was such a special goal in my career for me and I hope to score many more.
“It was the most special moment of my career. I’m so happy my family were here. From the moment I arrived I felt such a connection for the fans. I’m so happy I can score for them and make them happy.”
Estêvão is only the third teenager – after Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé – to score in each of his first three Champions League starts. But Maresca, whose side rose to fifth in the standings, sought to play down comparisons with Lionel Messi.
“Estêvão needs to relax, enjoy his football,” Chelsea’s head coach said. “Him and Lamine, if you start to talk about Messi and Ronaldo, it’s too much pressure for young boys like them. It’s too much for them.”
Chelsea took the lead through an own-goal from Jules Koundé and rounded off the scoring through Liam Delap. Barça were outplayed and were reduced to 10 men when Ronald Araújo received a second yellow just before half-time.
Chelsea are unbeaten in six matches in all competitions before hosting Arsenal on Sunday. Maresca plans to give his players two days off before ramping up preparations for the Premier League pacesetters.
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“I told the players to switch off in the next 48 hours, have a rest, and then on Sunday we have Arsenal,” the Italian said. “From Friday, we start to think about Arsenal. We need to keep the momentum. It’s much easier to recover energy when you win games.”
