Chelsea produced a ruthless attacking display at Stamford Bridge, sweeping aside 10-man Barcelona 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League for their biggest-ever victory over the Catalan giants.
The win stretches Chelsea’s unbeaten run to six matches and briefly lifts them into the top eight of the league phase standings.
The early stages were chaotic, with an initial Chelsea goal ruled out for handball before Barcelona’s Ferran Torres somehow missed a free sight of goal from close range.
Chelsea grew stronger, and although Enzo Fernández had a header chalked off for offside, the breakthrough arrived when Marc Cucurella’s low cross led to confusion between Torres and Jules Koundé, the defender diverting the ball into his own net.
Barcelona’s hopes took a further blow just before the interval when Ronald Araújo received a second yellow card for a reckless challenge, leaving the visitors to chase the game a man down.
Chelsea took full control after the restart. Andrey Santos had a finish ruled out for offside in the build-up, but the hosts didn’t have to wait long.
Estevão carved through Barcelona’s defence with a brilliant solo run before slotting in a deserved second.
Substitutions from the Spanish side, including Marcus Rashford and Raphinha, made little impact.
Chelsea instead found extra bite from their own bench. Liam Delap struck his first Champions League goal with a composed finish after Fernández timed a run perfectly to break Barcelona’s trap and square the ball across goal.
The victory means Chelsea have now lost just one of their last 10 matches against Barcelona and continue their rise in Europe, while the visitors face the growing possibility of falling into the competition’s play-off round.
