LONDON — You might glance at the 5-0 scoreline, flick on the highlights and assume there was no contest to be had at Stamford Bridge as Barrow were swiftly and comprehensively put to the sword by a Chelsea side which has had a sum invested in their frontline that would cover the League Two leaders’ wage bill for a century.
You would be wrong. Admittedly, Stephen Clemence’s side did not turn a bright start into any unforgettable moments for those who had made the 600-mile round journey to west London on a Tuesday night. To the surprise of precisely no one, it transpired that even the very best the fourth tier has to offer could not really hold back a Golden Boy and a Bundesliga Player of the Season. And, so in the absence of any great competition from their opposition, Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku pushed each other to levels greater than those required to beat Barrow.
For those two in particular, the stakes were surprisingly high given the gulf in quality on the field. Felix and Nkunku did not sign for Chelsea to be involved in nights like this and it will not have escaped their notice that so far this season more starter minutes in the Premier League have been afforded to the likes of Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto, who joined Mykhailo Mudryk on the flanks in this one. Given Nicolas Jackson’s bright start to the season and Cole Palmer’s track record of excellence from last season, there is a real battle to be had for an extremely limited number of spots.
Felix and Nkunku looked up for the fight. Their ingenuity in the final third is worthy of commendation, so is the energy with which they approached their tasks in the ever-dwindling spells of Barrow possession. With Chelsea already a goal to the good, Felix hurtled around his own third, claiming a handball from a black and yellow shirt moments after he appeared to have gotten away with one. Spurred on by the free kick he didn’t get, the Portugal international hurled himself into a challenge in the left back spot. Felix might have arrived with a reputation for flitting out of games in La Liga, but on Wednesday he was determined to involve himself in every aspect of the game.
When Cesare Casadei needed support at the base of midfield, Felix took it on himself to drop deep, hoovering up second balls as often as he served as a passing outlet. Nkunku, the nominal center forward, was no less prepared to follow his number 10 towards his own goal for yeoman’s work. Then once they got back to the final third, they could enjoy themselves.
Felix may never play a Premier League game where he is afforded the space Renato Veiga found him in after eight minutes. Certainly any analysts scouting him would urge their defense not to let Felix get his head up and assess his options. He might just lob a brilliant pass over the backline for Nkunku to stroke in first time on the volley.
With a quarter of an hour played, this contest was ended in emphatic style. Neto’s smart backheel unleashed Malo Gusto down the right flank, his low cross to the near post met with a Gianfranco Zola-esque flick of Nkunku’s boots. Five goals so far this season is quite the compelling case for further opportunities in the biggest games.
Felix thought for an instant that he had joined Nkunku on the scoresheet, his free kick bending onto Paul Farman’s left hand post and then against the Barrow No. 1’s back on the way to goal. It was the sort of strike that Felix would have been as desperate to claim as Farman to rid himself of.
Even as the scoreline mounted Barrow were going down swinging. Before Nkunku’s opener they gave Filip Jorgensen all sorts of trouble with their deliveries into the box and the Chelsea goalkeeper had to be sprightly to keep out two viciously whipped Kian Spence free kicks in the second half.
Their opponents, however, could keep plucking out top tier talent. Ben Chilwell, an England international who his employers were desperate to rid themselves of a month ago, got a second half run out. Following him were two England Under-19 internationals in the form of Tyrique George and Joshua Acheampong, neither of whom were willing to ease the pressure on the visitors’ goal. Indeed the refusal of George to pass when in on goal drew the ire of Felix, who would have been entitled to start coasting much earlier. Still he felt the competition. By then Neto had gone in on the scoring act, Mudryk blowing past his full back and crossing low for the former Wolves man to turn in his first goal at his new club. Soon after Nkunku would pick Farman’s pocket for his hat trick.
The natural inclination might be to discount all this as the inevitable outcome of Europe’s footballing royalty being pitted against a side who have spent 46 of the last 50 years out of the English Football League. The reality, however, is that Chelsea are going to have to negotiate plenty more games where they are prohibitively heavy favorites over the coming weeks of Conference League football.
Tuesday was the platonic ideal for how those assignments should go. Those cast down to the B team in all but name respond with purposeful displays, perhaps enough to nick a starting spot in the next Premier League game, spurning on even better performances from those who want their spot back. Seasoned observers of England’s elite in fringe European competitions know it tends not to work like that. However if Chelsea continue to approach these favorable assignments with the aggression and purpose of Felix and Nkunku, there will be plenty more comprehensive wins ahead of them.
