
Youth is not wasted on Chelsea.
It’s why they won the Club World Cup.
It’s why they are not letting the effort expended on doing so spoil their season.
And why, instead of moaning about having to play Barcelona and Arsenal within five days, these blockbusters could be the making of them.
They could not have handled the first big test any better.
Making Barcelona look ordinary is not something many teams do.
But after watching the Gunners overcome Bayern Munich the following night, the Blues will know a further step up in class will be needed against the EPL leaders.
The game kicks off at Stamford Bridge on Sunday (00.30am Monday in Malaysia).
Still, they were a joy to watch against Barcelona and could have had six!
They had the ball in the net six times, with three marginal off-sides keeping the score a little more respectable for the visitors.
But it was a thrashing, even allowing for Barca being down to 10 men for most of the match.
Chelsea had far too much for the Catalans…