'start Believing The Hype' - How 'effortless' Estevao Outshone Yamal

It was billed arsenic nan conflict of nan 2 teenage wonderkids - but for erstwhile it was Lamine Yamal who recovered himself overshadowed, formed speech from nan spotlight.

This was Estevao Willian's night.

With Chelsea already 1-0 up and Barcelona down to 10 men, nan 18-year-old produced a genuinely memorable infinitesimal to ray up an already raucous Stamford Bridge.

Collecting a walk from Reece James, Estevao trim inside, turned Alejandro Balde wrong retired and past sent a rasping thrust into nan tile of nan nett past goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

As erstwhile Chelsea winger Pat Nevin put it: "Start believing nan hype."

"The goal's nan spot everyone will see, and it was awesome successful a number of ways," Nevin said connected BBC Radio 5 Live aft nan 3-0 victory. "It was conscionable truthful tight, nan footwork, and it's a brilliant, superb finish.

"But each nan different parts of his game, nan intelligence, nan movement, nan picking up of position... he's a natural. Because usually footballers are called earthy and they're not - but it conscionable looks truthful effortless for him. Some players conscionable move otherwise to different players, a grace and elegance. It's beautiful to see."

Speaking connected Amazon Prime, ex-Chelsea guardant Daniel Sturridge added: "The anticipation and anticipation was that it was going to beryllium Yamal's nighttime and it would beryllium each astir him. But you spot Estavao coming and it was perfectly brilliant."

Yamal's evening came to an extremity successful nan 80th minute, substituted to jeers pinch nan lucifer already lost.

Just 2 minutes and 40 seconds later, Estevao departed to a opinionated ovation.

Tuesday's Champions League crippled was nan first clip Yamal had faced Estevao successful an charismatic match. The 18-year-olds were calved 3 months isolated successful 2007.

They are now considered nan 2 astir valuable teenagers successful world shot - according to CIES Football Observatory, external, Yamal is weighted astatine a staggering £307.4m, pinch Estevao 2nd but lagging acold down astatine £103.8m.

And, while nan brace will inevitably tie comparisons, nan Barcelona and Spain guardant remains up successful astir - though not each - attacking statistics.

Yamal is surely much established - he vanished 2nd down Ousmane Dembele successful nan Ballon d'Or, starred erstwhile Spain won Euro 2024 aged 17 and has doubly won nan Kopa Trophy, awarded to nan world's champion young player.

Having surgery connected to nan segment astatine 16, Yamal is besides much knowledgeable - particularly astatine nan highest level of European football.

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

By comparison, Estevao has 5 goals and 1 assistance successful 11 matches for Chelsea. He scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists successful 83 games for Palmeiras, and has 5 goals successful 11 caps for Brazil.

Even by ain admission, however, his extremity connected Tuesday felt different.

"I don't really person immoderate words to sum up really I'm emotion correct now. It really was nan cleanable night," Estevao told Amazon Prime.

"It each happened very quickly for me, it benignant of happened earlier I knew it. I conscionable recovered immoderate space, wriggled my measurement done and past scored that goal. It was specified a typical infinitesimal for maine successful my career. I dream to people galore more.

"It was decidedly nan champion infinitesimal of my profession truthful far."

Chelsea already knew they had a typical talent erstwhile they signed Estevao for £29m, rising to £51m, from Palmeiras successful nan summer.

And, according to Nevin, "it isn't a mobility of if, it is simply a mobility of erstwhile and really good" he is going to be.

So tin he - and Yamal - scope nan aforesaid heights arsenic Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

"He and Lamine are very young, truthful if you commencement talking astir Messi and Ronaldo - it is excessively overmuch pressure," said Chelsea leader Enzo Maresca aft nan game.

"They request to bask their football. It's excessively overmuch for them to beryllium compared pinch Messi and Ronaldo.

"He needs to relax, bask playing shot and nan training sessions."

Asked whether it was intolerable to downplay nan hype, Maresca added: "No, because if he doesn't play past Pedro Neto plays wide. We are happy pinch Pedro arsenic well.

"It depends connected nan gameplan and we usage 11 players. Today, successful astir apt nan astir difficult crippled of nan season, we decided to play pinch Estevao. I americium not 1 to contradict players minutes. It's nan gameplan that defines nan first 11."

So while Estevao was catching nan oculus astatine 1 end, what happened to Yamal astatine nan other?

In Blues left-back Marc Cucurella, he came up against a formidable force - and, by nan end, "his caput was swimming".

"There are definite full-backs who conscionable emotion tackling and getting successful one-on-one duels," explained Nevin. "If they've sewage a dribbling winger against them they deliberation 'I'm into this'. And, by nan way, 'you request to pursuit maine because I'm going to tally distant from you arsenic well'.

"There's really very fewer who are very bully astatine it - but Cucurella is superb astatine it.

"I was hopeless to spot this and, astatine nan opening of nan game, Lamine Yamal was getting nan precocious hand, he looked great, he looked graceful, and past he disappeared. Cucurella conscionable had him successful his pouch aft that."

In a typically combative show Cucurella made much successful tackles than anyone other connected nan transportation astatine Stamford Bridge, successful a capacity which drew comparisons pinch Ashley Cole's show against Cristiano Ronaldo astatine Euro 2004.

"Cucurella was perfectly incredible," erstwhile England guardant Wayne Rooney, who played successful that game, told Amazon Prime. "I deliberation it's astir apt nan champion capacity I person seen from a left-back for a very agelong time.

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