Thierry Henry likens Estevao to Man Utd legend after Chelsea beat Barcelona

Teenage sensation Estevao inspired Chelsea to a rousing victory at home to Barcelona (Picture: Getty)

Thierry Henry said he was reminded of Ryan Giggs after watching a scintillating individual performance from Estevao in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over ten-man Barcelona .

Estevao took centre stage in Tuesday’s one-sided Champions League contest to outshine Lamine Yamal and further strengthen his reputation as one of the most exciting attacking talents in the world game.

Stepping up in the absence of Cole Palmer at just 18 years of age, Estevao was a threat throughout and produced the standout moment of real quality to double Chelsea’s lead on a memorable night at Stamford Bridge.

After picking up the ball out side, with the hosts firmly in the ascendancy following Jules Kounde’s own goal, Estevao danced past Pau Cubarsi and arrowed an unstoppable strike beyond Joan Garcia to send Chelsea fans into raptures.

Liam Delap increased the deficit after coming on for Alejandro Garnacho midway through the second half and the Blues held firm to secure their third win of the group stage, a result that moved the club up to fifth in the table.

Estevao’s thunderous 55th-minute strike saw the attacker became only the third teenager to score in each of his first three Champions League starts, following in the footsteps of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.

The youngster later admitted the goal was the most ‘special’ he had scored of his career to date – and the CBS Sports punditry panel of Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards and Henry almost ran out of superlatives to describe the Brazilian as they analysed the game.

The Brazilian has scored five goals in all competitions this season (Picture: Getty)

Henry likened Estevao’s game to that of United icon Giggs (Picture: Getty)

‘You wouldn’t like to play against him,’ legendary ex-Arsenal and France striker Henry said.

‘I’m not saying that you wouldn’t be able to stop him but he’s coming at you all the time.

‘He’s reminding me of… I know it’s early doors… but that’s why I think Ryan Giggs was one of the best because he was coming at you all game.

‘Whether he’s having a good game or not a good game, he’s trying to test you all the time and see if you’re going to stop him or not. That’s how it is as a winger.’

🇧🇷 Estevao shines under the lights 🇪🇸 A quiet night for Yamal🔵How far can Chelsea go? @ben__fleming provides three takeaways from Chelsea's big win over Barcelona at Stamford Bridge: pic.twitter.com/VhGIhRebDb — Metro Sport (@Metro_Sport) November 25, 2025

Marc Cucurella won his battle with Yamal (Picture: Getty)

Lamine Yamal made way to jeers from the home fans (Picture: Getty)

Given the extraordinary talent at his disposal, Henry believes Enzo Maresca would be foolish not to allow Estevao to play with the kind of freedom he enjoyed against Barcelona.

‘Coaches, at times, are scared of transition, counter-attack, playing against a low block: if you lose the ball too early then you’re going to get done being open,’ he continued.

‘But the first quality of the kid is to dribble. Why are you going to take that away?

‘For me, to be able to make you tired, I’ll take advantage of what I’ve done.

Maresca’s men moved up to fifth with the win (Picture: Getty)

‘It’s like if you stop a boxer from jabbing. How is he going to work? If I don’t go at you five, six or seven times to stop me, how am I going to have the eighth time? You go to the eighth time and you can see he’s tired now… ninth time he doesn’t want me anymore and then it’s easy.

‘If I don’t make you run, I pass the ball all the time, it’s an easy job for you as a right-back or left-back.

‘Let him cook, let him play. We need to enjoy this type of player in these types of games.’

Estevao found the net in each of his first three starts in the Champions League (Picture: Getty)

According to Henry, there is a tendency for managers to be overly risk averse in the modern game – and dribbling at speed should be encouraged.

‘I mention Michael Olise and Bukayo Saka . It doesn’t have to be scripted all the time: pass the ball, don’t lose it,’ he went on.

‘I said it to Desire Doue and I think I said it on this show, I put him on against Egypt in the semi-finals at the Olympics . I put him on because he’s good in one-vs-one, I needed someone to go and not think anymore.

‘I said, “Have a go whenever you have the ball, I don’t really care, do what you have to do”, and I think he passed the ball one time back, second time back and I told him I’d take him out if he did it again.

‘Next thing you know, yellow card, another yellow card, the right-back is sent off and we won the game.

‘What made you arrive there? Dribbling. So why are you going to speak the guy in a negative way?’