• Chelsea raises its tally to 10 points, climbing to fourth place in the standings

Spanish club Barcelona suffered a heavy and unexpected 3-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Chelsea in their Tuesday evening clash, part of the fifth round of the UEFA Champions League group stage.

This loss adds to the Catalan side’s struggles in the continental competition.

Own goal and red card decide the first half

The first half started evenly, but things went drastically wrong for Barcelona in the final minutes:

• Opening goal (27’): Chelsea took the lead through an own goal by Barcelona defender Jules Koundé.

• Red card (44’): The visitors’ troubles worsened when Uruguayan defender Ronald Araújo received a second yellow card and was sent off, forcing Barcelona to play with ten men.

Hat-trick deepens the woes and drops Barcelona in the table

Chelsea exploited Barcelona’s numerical disadvantage in the second half to extend their dominance:

• Second goal (55’): Brazilian star Éverton Ribeiro (or Willian, depending on source) doubled Chelsea’s lead.

• Third goal (73’): Liam Delap added a third, deepening Barcelona’s misery.

With this victory, Chelsea reached 10 points, moving up to fourth in the group standings and strengthening their chances of direct qualification to the knockout stage.

Meanwhile, Barcelona remains at 7 points, slipping to 15th place, putting the team in a difficult position and complicating their task in the final round for securing qualification.