Barcelona's visit to Stamford bridge for a UEFA Champions League fixture has ended humiliating as the Spanish giants sank deep in the mud, outclassed, outplayed and beaten squarely by the Champions of the World.

Chelsea produced a stellar collective performance to beat Barcelona 3–0 on Tuesday night, with the Blues dominant before the visitors were reduced to 10 men.

The Blaugrana were destroyed from start to finish by a Chelsea side that overwhelmed them in every facet of the game, and things didn’t get any better when Ronald Araujo was sent off just before halftime and allowed things to spiral even further in the second half.

Enzo Maresca’s side had two goals ruled out before they eventually broke the deadlock. The hosts had the ball in the back of the Barcelona net inside five minutes but Enzo Fernández’s goal was disallowed for a Wesley Fofana handball. Seconds later, Chelsea survived a huge scare as Ferran Torres missed the target from point-blank range when it seemed easier to score. That was to be the most significant threat Barcelona posed to the Chelsea goal.

On 25 minutes, Fernández had the ball in the net again only to be denied for a second time, this time by the linesman’s flag. Chelsea were rampant, and they sensed blood. It wasn’t long before they scored a goal that would count, too.

A short corner was worked to Marc Cucurella to cross from the byline. Torres and Jules Koundé made a mess of clearing their lines, and the ball ended up in their own net. The final touch came off Koundé, meaning Barcelona had scored their 10th own goal in the Champions League – more than any other side – and their third against Chelsea, which is the joint most by any team against a specific opponent.

Things would soon get worse for the visitors. Their captain, Ronald Araujo, was booked for dissent shortly after the opening goal and then lunged in wildly and late on Cucurella as the Spaniard, who left Barcelona in 2020, broke up field. Araujo could have no complaints as the referee brandished a second yellow card just 12 minutes after the first.

The fortuitous own goal, and the fifth red card of Ronald Araújo’s Barça career meant the La Liga champions were unable to fight their way back into the contest.

It meant Barcelona had become only the third side to both score an own goal and receive a red card in the first half of a Champions League match, after Kaiserslautern vs Bayern Munich (March 1999) and Milan vs Barcelona (November 2011).

The red card was also the sixth in games between Barcelona and Chelsea in the Champions League, with only one fixture seeing more (Juventus vs Real Madrid – eight).

Barça manager Hansi Flick introduced Marcus Rashford at the break to try and turn the tide of the game, but the hosts were in no mood to let up. They pressed and attacked relentlessly and, a man down, Barcelona just could not live with them.

Brazilian sensation Estêvão upstaged Lamine Yamal and scored a majestic second for the home side, who secured their most significant Champions League triumph since Kai Havertz netted the only goal in the 2021 final.

Estevao dribbled past Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi before thumping an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net to score the second of Chelsea’s goals and the pick of the bunch. The Brazilian won his battle with Barcelona’s own 18-year-old superstar Lamine Yamal, and joined Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland by becoming just the third teenager to score in his first three Champions League appearances.

Liam Delap’s maiden strike in the competition capped off a wonderful night for Maresca and his men, with Chelsea, who moved up to fourth in the league phase table, suddenly in a strong position to claim a top eight finish and qualify automatically for the round of 16.