Ahead of Chelsea’s meeting with Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, the prematch comparisons between teenage phenoms Estevao Willian and Lamine Yamal felt premature. They don’t now.
Chelsea’s 3-0 win on Tuesday was the night when 18-year-old Estevao announced himself on the world stage, capped with a stunning goal that put his fellow young winger firmly in the shade.
Of course, 18-year-old Yamal won’t be too worried when the dust settles. He is a European Championship winner with Spain, a two-time LaLiga champion and a Ballon d’Or runner-up. The world is at his feet and will continue to sit there for a decade or more if he wants it.
Similarly, the bloated nature of this Champions League group stage means Barcelona’s 15th-place position in the table is no disaster with three matchweeks ahead containing eminently winnable games against Bayer Leverkusen, Copenhagen and Slavia Prague.
But this is the kind of occasion that pushes Estevao and Chelsea into the conversation at the highest level of the game, allowing a fanbase that has witnessed unprecedented change at its club since winning the Champions League in 2021 to believe its team is on the path to competing at the business end again.
– What stats say about whether Man United have improved under Amorim
– How Mbappé’s start at Real Madrid compares to Ronaldo, Benzema
– Can coach Arne Slot stop the rot in Liverpool?
The ceiling for what Estevao can achieve in the game continues to push higher. It might not even exist. Those who came expecting Yamal to define yet another game with his mercurial talent left with a moment for the ages provided by the winger with the opposite team on the opposite flank.
Already a goal and a man ahead following Jules Koundé’s comical 27th-minute own goal and Ronald Araújo’s 44th-minute dismissal, Chelsea turned the ball over quickly as Reece James fed Estevao.
The 18-year-old still had plenty to do but went on a jinking run, cutting inside Pau Cubarsí on his left foot and then turning back on his right away from Alejandro Balde before thrashing a shot high into the net past Joan García.
The television cameras immediately — and inevitably — cut to Yamal for his reaction. He attempted insouciance. Estevao was busy celebrating in the far corner of Stamford Bridge while Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca turned almost in disbelief to the direction of his coaching staff.
It was put to Maresca afterward that the goal was Lionel Messi-like.
“No, the goal from Estevao reminded me of the goal he scored against us in the Club World Cup that is very similar, same action,” Maresca said, referring to the goal Estevao scored in the tournament’s quarterfinal last summer when he played for Palmeiras. By then, Chelsea had already announced that the Brazilian would join the Premier League club ahead of the new season, after the Club World Cup.
1:38
What makes Estêvão a special player for Chelsea?
Stewart Robson and Craig Burley discuss Estêvão’s performance vs. Barcelona and his contribution in Chelsea’s attack.
“Estevao needs to relax. He needs to enjoy, he needs [training] sessions. He needs to play football,” Maresca continued. “Him, Lamine, they are so young, 18, that if you start to talk about Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, I think it is too much pressure for young boys like them. They need to enjoy, arrive at the training ground, happy, session. When you start to compare with Messi or Ronaldo, I think it is too much for them.”
Estevao became only the third player to score in his first three Champions League appearances. The other two? Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. This is the company Estevao is beginning to keep.
His five goals for Chelsea this season are as many as all other Premier League players 18 or under combined.
On Tuesday, Chelsea kept up their intensity throughout against Barcelona. Three disallowed goals almost became four when Enzo Fernández’s square pass was converted by substitute Liam Delap but a VAR review this time came in their favor. Delap’s first Champions League goal — and only his second in 14 appearances since a £30million summer move from Ipswich Town — was another welcome fillip.
Fernandez was excellent all night, as was Marc Cucurella. Barcelona rued an awful miss from Ferran Torres when clean through just six minutes in but last season’s semifinalists were second best both before and after Araujo left them with a mountain to climb. Incidentally, Barcelona were the first team in 14 years to score an own goal and have a man sent off in a Champions League game and only the third in history.
Estevao, center, looks at Reece James and celebrates after scoring in Chelsea’s win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday. Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images
Chelsea were peerless. Not bad for the team once dubbed “Cole Palmer FC” — so reliant were they on the England playmaker to inject creativity into what many felt was Maresca’s otherwise uninspiring style.
That is threatening to change. The “world champions” tag has felt hollow given the flawed format of FIFA’s Club World Cup, but more nights like this will enhance the feeling that Chelsea are becoming the real deal.
As former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney put it: “We haven’t even mentioned Cole Palmer tonight. That’s how well Chelsea played.”
Chelsea’s instinct has been to protect Estevao and that should continue. But it will get harder. This was only his ninth start in all competitions, but the temptation to unleash him again Sunday when Premier League leaders Arsenal are the visitors will be immense. So, will it be harder to protect him?
“No, to be honest, because if he doesn’t play, Pedro Neto plays wide in his position,” Maresca said. “And Pedro is good. We are happy with Pedro. It depends on the game plan. Tonight we decide in the most difficult game of the season, we play with Estevao. I am not a manager that doesn’t allow a player not to play minutes. It is just the game plan. The game plan defines the first 11. The next one is Arsenal. Estevao, when the game plan is for him, he is going to play. And for sure he is going to play many games because he is very good.”
Yamal was substituted with 11 minutes remaining. He left the pitch shaking of the head, engaging in a cursory clap of hands with Barcelona coach Hansi Flick and endured another chorus of “you’re just a s— Estevao” from Chelsea fans while slumping down disconsolately on the bench.
There are many brighter days ahead for Yamal — that has long felt inevitable. But it now increasingly appears to apply to Chelsea and Estevao, who moments later left the field to a standing ovation.
High-fives followed with his teammates on the sideline before he reached back for a lingering handshake with a figure dressed all in black a row farther behind. It was Palmer. Imagine what they might be able to do together.
