Chelsea stunned Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night as the Blues made a statement to the rest of the competition.
Sanchez says Cucurella pocketed Yamal
An own goal from Jules Kounde alongside goals from Estevao and Liam Delap secured the victory as Chelsea kept a clean sheet against Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Yamal who Sanchez commented on after the game.
“He had him in his pocket,” Sanchez told the Spanish media at Stamford Bridge when asked about Marc Cucurella’s performance.
“Everyone is great until they come to the Premier League.
“The red card gave us a slight advantage, but we dominated the game from the first minute. We scored a lot of goals, three of them offside, and I’m very happy with the victory.
“I know the quality we have, we know how they played, we’ve faced them and won head-to-head. In matches against top opponents, we always rise to the occasion. We’re a team that always rises to the occasion in big moments, and we’ve done it once again. It’s just another game.”
Cucurella proud of himself
Cucurella spoke to Amazon Prime after the game, stating that he was very proud of the team’s performance and himself, who claimed Man of The Match after the game had finished.
"The game plan was really clear. We executed it really well so it wasn't just about my performance, my team-mates helped out a lot. They always try to give me help, football is a game of 11 players against 11 players. We all try to do our best for the team and for the win.
"I'm feeling very proud personally. As a footballer, we have our ups and downs but the most important thing is staying consistent, trying to always improve and remembering that you have sacrificed a lot of things. After performances like this, everything makes sense.
"It's amazing. Over the last couple of games, we have improved a bit in defence and started to get some clean sheets. The team has gained some confidence from that and we need to continue in this way now."