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Lamine Yamal, who for once found himself cast aside from the spotlight, was billed as the battle of the two teenage wonderkids.
Estevao Willian’s night was this.
The 18-year-old created a truly memorable moment to light up an already raucous Stamford Bridge with Chelsea already leading 1-0 and Barcelona having ten men.
Estevao cut inside Alejandro Balde after receiving a pass from Reece James, and fired a rasping shot past goalkeeper Joan Garcia into the roof of the net.
Start by believing the hype, as former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin once said.
After the 3-0 victory, Nevin said on BBC Radio 5 Live, “The goal is the bit everyone will see, and it was wonderful in a number of ways.” Its footwork and finish were flawless, brilliant, and flawless.
He’s a natural, in spite of all of his other qualities, including intelligence, movement, positioning, and intelligence. Because most footballers are called natural, which they are not, but for him, it just seems so simple. Some players simply move with grace and elegance in a different way from others. It’s stunning to observe.
Former Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge stated on Amazon Prime that “Yamail’s night was going to be his night and it would be all about him.” However, you saw Estavao tonight and it was fantastic.
In the 80th minute, Yamal’s evening came to an end, ending in jeers with the game already verloren.
“Definitely the best moment of my career so far,” I thought.
Yamal and Estevao first faced off in an official match on Tuesday in the Champions League. The 18-year-olds were delivered three months apart in 2007.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, Yamal is valued at a staggering £307.4 million, with Estevao coming in second but trailing far behind at £103.8 million. They are now regarded as the two most valuable teenagers in world football.
The Barcelona and Spain forward will undoubtedly face comparisons, but he still leads in most attacking statistics, though not all of them.
Yamal is undoubtedly more well-known than Ousmane Dembele, who won the Kopa Trophy twice as he matured and won second place in the Ballon d’Or competition at age 17 when Spain won the tournament in 2024.
Yamal became the youngest goal scorer in his country with 31 goals and 42 assists in 119 Barca games and six assists in 23 games.
Estevao has five goals and one assist for Chelsea in comparison. In 83 games for Palmeiras, he scored 27 goals and added 15 assists, and he has five goals in Brazil’s 11 caps.
However, his goal on Tuesday felt different, even if he had admitted it.
I’m feeling what I’m feeling right now, but I really don’t have any words. Estevao told Amazon Prime, “It was really the perfect night.”
For me, it all happened “very quickly,” or “sort of happened before I knew it.” I stumbled my way through the designated area, and I eventually scored the goal. For me personally, this was a very special time in my career. I’m hoping to get even higher.
They can’t possibly be compared to Messi and Ronaldo, they claim.
Chelsea already knew they had a unique talent when they purchased Estevao from Palmeiras for £29 million in the summer, which increased to £51 million.
Nevin claims that it is not about whether or not he will succeed, but rather when and how good he will be.
Can he and Yamal then reach the same heights as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi?
After the game, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said, “He and Lamine are very young, so it is too much pressure to start talking about Messi and Ronaldo.”
They must enjoy playing football, they say. They cannot be compared to Messi and Ronaldo because of how much they cost.
He needs to unwind, unwind, and enjoy the training sessions.
Maresca questioned whether it was possible to minimize the hype, saying that Pedro Neto plays wide if he doesn’t play. We both like Pedro.
Yamal disappeared after appearing great, but then he disappeared.

What happened to Yamal at the other end of the spectrum while Estevao was caught on camera at one?
By the end, “his head was swimming,” he said of Blues left-back Marc Cucurella, who faced a formidable opponent.
Some fullbacks “lol” on the field and engaging in one-on-one combat, Nevin said. If they have a dribbling winger in their path, they believe I’m interested in this. By the way, “you need to chase me because I’m going to run away from you as well.”
Cucurella excels at it like a champ, even though there aren’t many people who are.
“Lamine Yamal was gaining the upper hand at the beginning of the game, he looked great, he looked graceful, and then he vanished,” I said. After that, Cucurella simply had him in his pocket.
Cucurella’s tackles on the pitch at Stamford Bridge were compared to Ashley Cole’s display against Cristiano Ronaldo at Euro 2004 in a typically combative display.
Wayne Rooney, a former England international who participated in that game, described Cucurella as “absolutely incredible.” It’s probably the best left-back performance I’ve seen in a very long time, I think.
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