Barcelona were comprehensively beaten at Stamford Bridge as the Blaugrana hardly put up a fight on the way to a 3-0 defeat against Chelsea in the Champions League. Hansi Flick's side went down to 10 men in the first half after Ronald Araujo was dismissed after picking up two bookings, and had the ball in their net six times as Chelsea attacked against their infamous high line at will.
A shocking own goal by Jules Kounde opened the scoring for Chelsea with 27 minutes on the clock, after the home side had already seen two goals disallowed prior. Following a Marc Cucurella cross and Pedro Neto back-heel, Kounde and Ferran Torres got themselves in an almighty mess on the goal line and the ball bounced in off the Frenchman.
Ferran was involved in shocking moments at both ends, inexplicably sliding the ball wide when clean through with the game goalless. Lamine Yamal's through-ball to the Spaniard would be the 18-year-old's only memorable contribution of the night, as Estevao scored a stunning goal at the other end to confirm himself as the clear victor in the battle of the teenage wonderkids.
Chelsea substitute Liam Delap scored a third after another ridiculous offside trap played by the visitors, and the introduction of Marcus Rashford and Raphinha by Flick was to no avail as Barca rarely laid a glove on their buoyant hosts following Araújo's 44th-minute dismissal.
GOAL rates Barcelona's players from Stamford Bridge…
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Joan Garcia (4/10):
Had the ball in his net six times and had the offside flag to thank for one disallowed goal in particular, where Santos' strike slipped through his grasp far too easily and into the net. Would have gone down as a goalkeeping howler if it stood.
Jules Kounde (3/10):
Got his feet in an almighty mess to score a highly-avoidable own goal. His lack of awareness in the six-yard box was astounding as he somehow managed to almost tackle the ball off Ferran and into the net. Sent flying by Garnacho just after half-time as the Argentine set up one of Chelsea's disallowed goals.
Ronald Araujo (2/10):
Summed up Barca's first-half display with a mindless challenge on Cucurella to earn himself a second yellow card. The fact that his first was earnt for dissent makes things even worse. Wearing the captain's armband for such a club, better discipline must be demanded.
Pau Cubarsi (5/10):
Did the best he could to prevent the scoreline being any bigger, but the young defender was beaten far too easily by Estevao as he skipped inside to score.
Alejandro Balde (5/10):
Played Fernandez onside for Chelsea's final goal as Barca's high line came unstuck once again. The full-back had no answers for the dangerous Estevao as the Brazilian shone.
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Eric Garcia (5/10):
Shifted back into centre-back after the red card, and put in a shift despite the poor performance from his side overall.
Frenkie de Jong (4/10):
Gave the ball away poorly in the build-up to the second goal and was never able to take control of the midfield, as Chelsea dominated throughout.
Fermín Lopez (5/10):
Largely non-existent as Caicedo prevented him having any say on proceedings. The 22-year-old's most memorable contribution was a weak claim for a first-half penalty from a Chalobah challenge. Taken off after an hour by Flick.
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Lamine Yamal (5/10):
Arguably lost out in two battles in one night – Cucurella got the better of him, and so did Estevao as the two 18-year-olds competed for the spotlight. Other than an early through-ball to Ferran and a scuffed shot easily saved, Yamal impacted the game little and was substituted with 10 minutes to play to jeers from the home crowd.
Robert Lewandowski (5/10):
Similarly to Fermin, the veteran Pole hardly had a touch of the ball and much less an opportunity on goal. Was given very little service in his hour on the pitch, in fairness.
Ferran Torres (3/10):
Far from his finest day at the office. Missed a huge opportunity at 0-0, clean through with the goal gaping. Torres then played his role in failing to clear Kounde's scrappy own goal, and was hooked at half-time by Flick to be replaced by Rashford.
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Marcus Rashford (5/10):
Replaced Ferran at half-time and made no more of an impact, as Barca's threat became even less in the second period.
Raphinha (5/10):
Had a weak shot on target saved by Sanchez, but in half an hour on the pitch also offered very little.
Andreas Christensen (5/10):
Brought on to shore up the midfield and struggled to do that, seeing an ambitious strike fly wide in stoppage time as he hoped to impact proceedings against his former club.
Dani Olmo (N/A):
Replaced Yamal late on and barely had a touch of the ball.
Gerard Martín (N/A):
Came on for Balde in the final 10 minutes.
Hansi Flick (4/10):
The high line did not work, and Barcelona were second-best long before the sending-off. Flick's substitutions did not help, either, and he can have no complaints about the deserved result.