Chelsea made a statement to the rest of the clubs in the Champions League with a dominant 5-1 win at home to Ajax, leaving their manager John Heitinga scrambling for solutions.
Enzo Maresca’s rotated side was still more than good enough to take all three points at Stamford Bridge, although were given a helping hand by Kenneth Taylor’s early red card.
Chelsea’s young guns impressed greatly throughout the game. Estevao Willian became their youngest goalscorer in Champions League history, while Dutch media heavily praised Jamie Gittens as he looks to finally kickstart his career for the club.
After defeat in their opening game to Bayern Munich and only narrowly beating Jose Mourinho’s Benfica, the Blues needed to leave their mark on the group stages with a big win, and Ajax were on the receiving end of a thrashing.
John Heitinga issues instructions during Chelsea vs Ajax
Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images
John Heitinga names Chelsea as ‘team to watch’ in Champions League this season
John Heitinga knew Chelsea would be a tough opponent before the game even started, however even he was surely slightly surprised by the emphatic nature of the victory.
After the game, the Ajax boss was asked about Chelsea’s chances of winning the Champions League, and he referred to Chelsea as a ‘team to watch’ when it comes to the eventual champions.
He said: “Yeah, if you compare them with last season, I think they’ve started really well in the league, and also the Champions League. They have a big squad, a young squad, but also a squad with a lot of experience. Enzo is still there, and a couple of other players.
“You see they’ve spent a lot of money in the last few years, and Maresca is building a team. I think at the moment, it’s a team to watch.”
Chelsea break records galore in Champions League
In an incredible 90 minutes, Chelsea set a number of Champions League records in their 5-1 win over Ajax, with their youngsters taking most of the headlines.
Chelsea players before Ajax game
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Reggie Walsh became the youngest ever Chelsea player to appear in the top level of European football, after Estevao had taken the record of being their youngest goalscorer minutes after Marc Guiu had set the record.
The Blues can put themselves in a very strong position with a few more victories in Europe that would allow Maresca the opportunity to continue to rotate his side and give more wonderkids the chance to feature.
Ryan Kavuma-McQueen was unlucky to be an unused substitute during the victory, however there are no doubts that his time is coming in a Chelsea shirt.