Chelsea maintained their flawless record in the Conference League this season, thrashing Shamrock Rovers 5-1 at Stamford Bridge despite an early scare.
Enzo Maresca is firing across domestic and European cylinders this season, with Chelsea's impressive depth enabling near-total rotation as they flick between the two competitions.
Even without many of their heaviest hitters, the Blues are breezing through the Conference League at a canter, with Shamrock surprising everyone in west London with a well-taken equaliser, only to then be carved open with a fusillade of goals from the hosts.
Chelsea youngsters celebrate against Shamrock Rovers
A wealth of up-and-coming talents impressed on the continental stage, but none more so than Marc Guiu, whose emphatic hat-trick saw him steal the limelight.
Marc Guiu's performance vs Shamrock
Guiu's impact has been negligible in the Premier League this season, but he's still making a big impression on Maresca, now boasting six goals for the club after his £5m transfer from Barcelona.
Aged 18, the Spaniard is the top goalscorer in the Conference League but has indeed been a non-entity on the domestic front, only featuring off the bench against Manchester City in the Premier League on the opening day. In the Carabao Cup, merely 14 minutes during a 5-0 romp over fourth-tier Barrow.
Against Irish giants Shamrock, Guiu showcased the raw shooting skills that have seen him garner a reputation, hailed for his "insane" pressing by content creator Felix Johnston.
Though the goals will scrawl Guiu's name across the headlines, he wasn't actually the most impressive youngster in the Chelsea squad. Certainly not to his detriment, Josh Acheampong was simply exceptional at right-back.
Josh Acheampong proved he's Chelsea's future
With Reece James' interminable fitness problems dragging on and on, Malo Gusto has assumed the starring role at right-back this season. The Frenchman has plenty of promise, to be sure, but Acheampong is now proving that he has the quality and variation to step up to the highest floor at Stamford Bridge.
Malo-Gusto-Chelsea
The much-changed home side brushed their lesser opponents aside, and Acheampong continued an exciting and steady emergence in 2024/25 to complement Cobham's robust production line.
GOAL's Richie Mills handed the prodigy a deserved 8/10 match rating after yet another assured display, praising his versatility across different levels of the play while carrying himself with an authority that defied his avid boyishness.
Hailed as the "future of Chelsea" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Acheampong will hold his head high after completing his third senior showing of the term, especially since his balanced skills were backed up by a wonderful array of match metrics.
As per Sofascore, no player on the evening took more touches than Acheampong, who took 127, which makes an interesting comment regarding his swagger on the field, his agency within the backline and desire to influence the lay of the match as much as possible.
Josh Acheampong - Stats vs Shamrock
Match Stats
Minutes played
Touches
Shots (on target)
Accurate passes
Key passes
Dribbles (completed)
Tackles
Clearances
Total duels (won)
Stats via Sofascore
No matter the opponents' ostensible distinction, Acheampong triumphed in winning 88% of his contested duels, also succeeding with both of his dribbles and making three tackles.
Talk about flexibility. This is a young star with a skillset almost custom-made for Premier League stardom. He has many steps still to take, but already, it looks like Chelsea might have a central part of their 'future' currently shooting to the fore.
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