Chelsea wrapped up the Conference League group stages in style on Thursday night with an emphatic 5-1 home win against Shamrock Rovers.
Chelsea made it six wins out of six in the group phase of this season’s Conference League, so they’ve automatically qualified for the knockouts. Interestingly, the Blues don’t play again in the European competition until the Round of 16 at the start of March.
Enzo Maresca made nine changes to his starting line-up for Chelsea’s match versus Shamrock Rovers from the team that beat Brentford in the Premier League at the weekend. However, it was still an extremely strong outfit with plenty of senior faces.
Blues striker Marc Guiu stole the headlines with his first-half hat-trick on Thursday evening. Also, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Cucurella got on the scoresheet.
Axel Disasi admits Chelsea are desperate to win the Conference League. Well, they’re certainly the team to beat in it.
Marc Guiu of Chelsea goal celebration after scoring to complete his hat trick during the UEFA Conference League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 match betw...
Photo by Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
Joe Cole praises Chelsea talent Marc Guiu
Joe Cole picked out Chelsea’s Marc Guiu, 18, for special praise after his three goals versus Shamrock Rovers. In fact, he’s tipped the teenager to be a big star for the future.
The Spanish centre-forward lead the line superbly well for an hour before he was taken off. His first two goals came after smartly capitalising on defensive mistakes, while his hat-trick strike was a clever header.
“You’ve got give credit to Guiu there [for his second goal]. He just reacts. He puts the burners on. This is a lovely touch around the goalie and he squeezes it in. He was brilliant from the start of the game,” Cole told TNT Sports 1 (8:57pm, 19 December).
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Cole added on Guiu’s hat-trick goal: “Guiu whips his header out. This kid can score goals. He’s got a striker’s instinct… That’s a difficult header because it’s coming across him and he’s got to guide it with the right pace. The fans were singing his name after the third goal. He could be a big, big star for this club in the future. I want to see what this kid can do in the Premier League now. He presses so well.”
Maresca recently praised Chelsea frontman Guiu by claiming he plays in the right way whenever he gets his opportunity.
It’s great to see the young striker taking his opportunity in the first team, scoring six goals in the club’s six Conference League matches this season.
Marc Guiu super impressive vs Shamrock Rovers
Guiu put in yet another eye-catching and tenacious performance as the spearhead for the Blues attack.
FOTMOB delivered the individual statistics from Guiu’s standout display in Europe:
Match rating – 9.7
Minutes played – 60
Goals – 3
Total shots – 5
Successful dribbles – 2/3 (67%)
Touches in opposition box – 12
Accurate passes – 9/10 (90%)
Chances created – 1
It’ll be interesting to see if Maresca puts Guiu on the bench for Chelsea’s league trip to Everton on Sunday. The fact that he was substituted off on the hour mark suggests he’s got a chance.
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