The knowledge that this was an evening in the company of an Ajax team not fit to lace the boots of the giants who represented the Dutch side in years gone by did not dull Chelsea’s delight in seeing further vindication of their faith in youth.
History was made more than once by the youngest team in the Champions League. There was Marc Guiu becoming Chelsea’s youngest scorer in the competition, only for the forward aged 19 years and 291 days to end up in third place by full-time. His record lasted all of 33 minutes, ending when the 18-year-old Brazilian winger Estêvão Willian scored just before half-time, and Guiu tumbled further down the list when Tyrique George – 19 years and 260 days – rounded off a 5-1 win for Enzo Maresca’s side early in the second half.
While John Heitinga’s awful Ajax faced up to the ignominy of conceding four times in the first half of a European tie for the first time since 1958, Chelsea became the first team in the competition’s history to have three teenagers score in one game.
There was no chance of anyone falling into the trap of mistaking this for one of the great Ajax sides. The Dutch giants have made a dreadful start to their domestic campaign and they knew they were on their way to another dispiriting evening in this competition when they were reduced to 10 men after Kenneth Taylor was punished for an inexplicable rush of blood to the head in the 15th minute.
