'Start believing the hype' - how 'effortless' Estevao outshone Yamal

It was billed as the battle of the two teenage wonderkids - and for once it was Lamine Yamal who found himself overshadowed, cast aside from the spotlight.

This was Estevao Willian's night.

With Chelsea already 1-0 up and Barcelona down to 10 men, the 18-year-old produced a truly memorable moment to light up an already raucous Stamford Bridge.

Collecting a pass from Reece James, Estevao cut inside, turned Alejandro Balde inside out and then sent a rasping drive into the roof of the net past goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

As former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin put it: "Start believing the hype."

"The goal's the bit everyone will see, and it was wonderful in a number of ways," Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live after the 3-0 victory. "It was just so tight, the footwork, and it's a brilliant, brilliant finish.

"But all the other parts of his game, the intelligence, the movement, the picking up of position... he's a natural. Because usually footballers are called natural and they're not - but it just looks so effortless for him. Some players just move differently to other players, a grace and elegance. It's beautiful to see."

Speaking on Amazon Prime, ex-Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge added: "The anticipation and expectation was that it was going to be Yamal's night and it would be all about him. But you see Estavao tonight and it was absolutely brilliant."

Yamal's evening came to an end in the 80th minute, substituted to jeers with the match already lost.

Just two minutes and 40 seconds later, Estevao departed to a standing ovation.

• Chelsea earn dominant win over 10-man Barcelona

'Definitely the best moment of my career so far'

Tuesday's Champions League game was the first time Yamal had faced Estevao in an official match. The 18-year-olds were born three months apart in 2007.

They are now considered the two most valuable teenagers in world football - according to CIES Football Observatory, Yamal is valued at a staggering £307.4m, with Estevao second but lagging far behind at £103.8m.

And, while the pair will inevitably draw comparisons, the Barcelona and Spain forward remains ahead in most - though not all - attacking statistics.

Yamal is certainly more established - he finished second behind Ousmane Dembele in the Ballon d'Or, starred when Spain won Euro 2024 aged 17 and has twice won the Kopa Trophy, awarded to the world's best young player.

Having broken on to the scene at 16, Yamal is also more experienced - especially at the highest level of European football.

Yamal has 31 goals and 42 assists in 119 matches for Barca, plus six goals in 23 games for Spain - becoming his country's youngest scorer.

By comparison, Estevao has five goals and one assist in 11 matches for Chelsea. He scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists in 83 games for Palmeiras, and has five goals in 11 caps for Brazil.

Even by own admission, however, his goal on Tuesday felt different.

"I don't really have any words to sum up how I'm feeling right now. It really was the perfect night," Estevao told Amazon Prime.

"It all happened very quickly for me, it sort of happened before I knew it. I just found some space, wriggled my way through and then scored that goal. It was such a special moment for me in my career. I hope to score many more.

"It was definitely the best moment of my career so far."

'It's too much for them to be compared with Messi and Ronaldo'

Chelsea already knew they had a special talent when they signed Estevao for £29m, rising to £51m, from Palmeiras in the summer.

And, according to Nevin, "it isn't a question of if, it is a question of when and how good" he is going to be.

So can he - and Yamal - reach the same heights as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

"He and Lamine are very young, so if you start talking about Messi and Ronaldo - it is too much pressure," said Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca after the game.

"They need to enjoy their football. It's too much for them to be compared with Messi and Ronaldo.

"He needs to relax, enjoy playing football and the training sessions."

Asked whether it was impossible to downplay the hype, Maresca added: "No, because if he doesn't play then Pedro Neto plays wide. We are happy with Pedro as well.

"It depends on the gameplan and we use 11 players. Today, in probably the most difficult game of the season, we decided to play with Estevao. I am not one to deny players minutes. It's the gameplan that defines the first 11."

'Yamal looked great... and then he disappeared'

So while Estevao was catching the eye at one end, what happened to Yamal at the other?

In Blues left-back Marc Cucurella, he came up against a formidable opponent - and, by the end, "his head was swimming".

"There are certain full-backs who just love tackling and getting in one-on-one duels," explained Nevin. "If they've got a dribbling winger against them they think 'I'm into this'. And, by the way, 'you need to chase me because I'm going to run away from you as well'.

"There's actually very few who are very good at it - but Cucurella is brilliant at it.

"I was desperate to see this and, at the beginning of the game, Lamine Yamal was getting the upper hand, he looked great, he looked graceful, and then he disappeared. Cucurella just had him in his pocket after that."

In a typically combative display Cucurella made more successful tackles than anyone else on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, in a performance which drew comparisons with Ashley Cole's display against Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2004.

"Cucurella was absolutely incredible," former England forward Wayne Rooney, who played in that game, told Amazon Prime. "I think it's probably the best performance I have seen from a left-back for a very long time.

"To do that tonight, what he did, that shows he's a serious player."

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