Chelsea's teenage wonders teach hapless Ajax a lesson

Suffice to say the kids were alright.

- By RICHARD JOLLY

Chelsea made Champions League history of sorts with the teamsheet, still more with the scoresheet. They have played the generation game over the last three years, but the shift to youth never felt as pronounced. Nor, they may feel, as much of a vindication. Enzo Maresca named the second youngest 11 an English club had ever selected in this competition - behind an Arsenal side that, strange as it sounds, featured Tom Cruise - and Chelsea became the first team ever to have three teenagers score in a Champions League game. “It was a great night especially for these young players and the club,” said Maresca. “It is the strategy of the club.”

The rested captain Reece James began the night as Chelsea’s youngest Champions League scorer. Within 50 minutes of football, he was only the fourth youngest. Marc Guiu took his record and held it for half an hour until Estevao Willian struck. Then Tyrique George, older than the Brazilian, netted three minutes after his introduction. Each was born when Jose Mourinho was Chelsea manager. The Special One may have been glad of their goals: only this hapless Ajax team are keeping his Benfica off the foot of the Champions League table.

Reggie Walsh, born a year after Chelsea sacked Mourinho for the first time, emerged for the last half-hour. “We have so many young players,” said Maresca. And if Walsh’s introduction was a sign of his precocious talent, it was also an indication of how comfortable Chelsea were by then.