Chelsea swat Barcelona aside to send out stark warning to table-toppers Arsenal

Another episode in a fixture with a great recent history : Picture by @YTJourno

Champions League MD5

Chelsea (1) 3 Kounde og 27, Estevao 55, Delap 73

Barcelona (0) 0

So much history behind it. And the fixture with the sexy background once again delivered - as far as Chelsea fans were concerned, that is.

It may not have carried quite the visceral joy of that famous 4-2 win in the Ronaldinho era or the '3-0 up in 19 minutes' tie at the Bridge - The Blues had no Messi to contend with. No Iniesta or Xavi - but this was a very welcome staging post in the quest for automatic qualification for the next stage of the Champions League.

With three straight home wins over Benfica, Ajax and now a 10-man Barcelona, Enzo Maresca's men must fancy their chances of finishing in the top eight of the 36-team table - even if they have dropped points at Bayern Munich and Qarabag on their travels. There remaining group stage fixtures are Atalanta and Napoli away and Pafos at home.

This was also no bad way to sharpen up ahead of Arsenal's visit on Sunday for a summit meeting of the top two. They had a pretty restful second half and have an extra 24 hours to prepare for the Gunners, who face an intense clash with Bayern tomorrow night.

Both sides were hell-bent on attack at the outset here, and in the opening quarter of the game we saw glimpses of the magic Lamine Yamal can conjure on the right, while the terrier approach from the Blues made it initially hard to guess who would blink first.

Enzo Fernandez twice had the ball in the Barcelona net but was denied by a handball by Wesley Fofana in assisting the first and an offside in heading the second. Ferran Torres missed a sitter at the other end after some typically slick play from the Catalonians.

But Chelsea were making the better case as the half wore on though, with Pedro Neto firing off target when well placed before clipping in a low cross from the right by Marc Cucurella that although initially blocked on the line, was turned over his own goalline by Jules Kounde.

Soon after, Reece James crashed a shot narrowly wide into the Matthew Harding stand as the momentum threatened to overwhelm the visitors - a feeling that was only enhanced just before half-time when Hansi Flick's men were reduced to 10 when skipper Ronald Araujo received a second yellow for a foul on Cucurella.

The margin of victory always looked likely to increase. Estevao netted just after the break and although another infringement ruled it out, it didn't matter a bit as the young Brazilian was soon dazzling again - waltzing between two defenders and rifling into the roof of the net in a moment of sheer class.

Liam Delap came on and found the net from a Fernandez pass in what was initially ruled out for offside, but eventually upgraded. It capped a night of blissful ease for Maresca's men and paved the way for some taunting of Yamal as he left the field - beaten to the headlines by Estevao on this occasion..

In old parlance, Chelsea looked more up for it. They worked harder with and without the ball and made Barcelona look very ordinary. The aim will be to repeat that on Sunday.

Blues: (4-2-3-1) Sanchez - Gusto (Santos h/t), Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella - James (Acheampong 80), Caicedo - Estevao (George 82), Fernandez, Garnacho (Delap 59) - Pedro Neto (Gittens 75)

Barca (4-3-3) Joan Garcia - Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde (Gerard Martin 79) - De Jong, Eric Garcia, Fermin Lopez (Christensen 63) - Yamal (Olmo 80), Lewandowski (Raphinha 62), Ferran Torres (Rashford h/t)