Wayne Rooney heaped praise on Marc Cucurella following Chelsea’s 3-0 victory over ten-man Barcelona, saying the defender produced one of the best performance he had seen from a left-back in a ‘long, very long time’.
Estevao stole much of the limelight with one other scintillating individual performance on a memorable night for the Stamford Bridge faithful, with Enzo Maresca’s men rising to fifth within the table.
The Brazilian teenager shone throughout the primary half and doubled Chelsea’s lead with a moment of brilliance within the fifty fifth minute after Jules Kounde had earlier fired into his own net.
After picking up possession out wide on the fitting, Estevao danced past Pau Cubarsi on the sting of the box before arrowing the ball into the roof of the online from a decent angle.
As Chelsea fans proceeded to taunt Lamine Yamal with chants of ‘You’re only a s*** Estevao’, Liam Delap got here on and added a 3rd to place the sport to bed with 17 minutes remaining of normal time.
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But while Chelsea’s precocious 18-year-old talent is prone to take the plaudits, Cucurella further underlined his importance to Chelsea with an excellent performance to maintain Yamal quiet at the opposite end of the pitch.
Cucurella was also instrumental in Barca being reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time, drawing a foul from Ronald Araujo that gave Slavko Vincic little option but to brandish a second yellow card.
Analysing Tuesday’s one-sided Champions League contest on Amazon Prime, Rooney couldn’t speak highly enough of the Chelsea and Spain left-back.
‘Estevao has probably given Cucurella one of the best lessons in training that he could have in coping with Lamine Yamal,’ the ex-Manchester United and England forward began.
‘Cucurella was absolutely incredible. I feel it’s probably one of the best performance I’ve seen from a left-back for an extended, very long time.
‘To try this tonight, what he did, he’s a serious player.’
Metro on the Match: Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona
Metro’s Ben Fleming breaks down the motion with the winners and losers from Stamford Bridge:
Neto impresses in latest role
Given the beginning because the central striker with Joao Pedro and Liam Delap benched, Pedro Neto was a livewire up in attack. An absence of composure let him down at points, but deploying him centrally might be an incredible option to offer Estevao with more minutes from the beginning.
Estevao outshines Yamal
Only 18, but Estevao already looks like a person for the massive occasion. A winner against Liverpool last month and now a sublime goal to virtually put this game to bed. The Brazilian easily won the battle of the teenage sensations.
Cucurella the cult hero
A faultless display from Cucurella at left-back. Provided loads of support to Garnacho in the ultimate third, and kept his fellow countryman Lamine Yamal quiet for virtually all the 90 minutes. Revered by the fans who sang his name all night long.
Full Chelsea rankings: Sanchez 7, Gusto 6, Fofana 7, Chalobah 7, Cucurella 8.5, James 6, Caicedo 7, Estevao 9, Fernandez 6, Garnacho 6, Neto 7. Subs: Santos 7, Delap 6, Gittens N/A, Acheampong N/A, George N/A.
Yamal kept quiet
Lost his battle up against Cucurella and struggled to have any real impact on the sport. Not helped by his side going right down to ten men, but a visit to London to forget for the supremely talented teen, who made solution to jeers from all 4 sides of Stamford Bridge.
Awful Araujo
The rank opposite of a captain’s display from Ronald Araujo. Picked up his first yellow for dissent and sent for an early bath before the half-time whistle for a slipshod challenge on Cucurella. Cost his team.
Full Barcelona rankings: Joan García 5, Kounde 6, Cubarsi 5, Araujo 3, Balde 5; Eric García 5, De Jong 6, Fermin 6, Yamal 5, Lewandowski 5, Ferran Torres 5. Subs: Rashford 5, Raphinha 5, Christensen 5, Martin N/A, Olmo N/A.
In keeping with Rooney, the challenge of facing the likes of Estevao, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro every day in training is simply going to profit a player like Cucurella.
He explained: ‘It all the time helped me because once you’re playing against top-class defenders every single day in training, in small spaces as well, in smaller games, you’ve gotten to think quick in your feet.
‘You’ve gotten to learn to make use of your body since you’re up against quick, strong players.
‘Normally, training is the toughest opposition you’ve gotten and it makes games loads easier so I feel for Cucurella tonight, he’s had good preparation for this game.’
Rooney made sure to praise Estevao’s magnificent showing on the night, applauding the teenager’s decision-making and skill to maintain calm and picked up on the massive stage.
‘Nights like tonight will give him quite a lot of confidence,’ he said.
‘But additionally, the manager has used him rather well and sparingly within the Premier League. It isn’t as physical in Europe and he was implausible tonight.
‘His decisions to drive with the ball, decisions to run off the ball, to play inside, one touch, but additionally, defensively, his work-rate was superb as well.
‘If he keeps doing what he’s doing then he’ll give the manager no option but to play him in every game.’
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