Marc Cucurella has sent a message of support to the players who flew to Kazakhstan for Chelsea’s 3-1 win at Astana in the Europa Conference League.
A young squad travelled 3,500 miles to secure the victory in minus-12 degree conditions and make it five wins in as many games in the competition. The three points was ultimately enough to secure a top eight finish in the table.
Among the goalscorers on the evening was summer signing Renato Veiga, who is a left-back by trade but was played further up the flank in the match. He is currently among the rotation roster used by head coach Enzo Maresca for cup games.
Many of Chelsea’s biggest stars who played against Tottenham on Sunday were left at home to rest ahead of Brentford on Sunday.
Cucurella, whose two slips led to Spurs' first two goals in that 4-3 win last weekend, was one of those given a rest for a second European game in a row.
He was watching on at home as Chelsea ran out comfortable winners with a youthful side full of summer signings and academy products. He took to Instagram after the match to send a message to his teammates.
The Spaniard, who seems to be firmly first-choice left-back in the Premier League ahead of Veiga, wrote: "Another one [rocket emoji]. Well done team!”.
Marc Cucurella on Instagram
Marc Cucurella sent a message to his Chelsea team-mates on Instagram (Image: Instagram/cucurella3)
Veiga himself took to social media after the match to share a photo of his celebration, holding the number 12 with his fingers, writing: “Cold innit.” However, from the camera’s angle, the number came across as 21.
This prompted a comical response from several of his teammates in the comments. Joao Felix wrote: “Didn’t you learn numbers in school?” with Romeo Lavia commenting: "That’s 21 [tear emoji].”
Pedro Neto was playing in the match given he is suspended for Sunday’s match after picking up five yellow cards in the Premier League.
He provided the assist for Chelsea’s second goal from Marc Guiu, who also grabbed the first. Neto posted a cold face emoji on Instagram with a photo of him delivering the ball for his assist.