Wayne Rooney hailed Marc Cucurella as 'absolutely incredible' after Chelsea's 3-0 Champions League demolition of Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
The former England captain singled out the left-back for special praise after he locked down teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and helped drive a statement victory.
The Blues beat the LaLiga champions thanks to a Jules Kounde own goal and second-half strikes from Estevao and Liam Delap.
Rooney argued Cucurella had delivered a masterclass in how to handle one of Europe's most dangerous young attackers and even claimed the display was 'probably the best' he'd seen in some time.
'Cucurella's given the best training lesson you could have for dealing with Lamine Yamal tonight,' he said on Amazon Prime.
'Cucurella was absolutely incredible, probably the best performance I've seen from a left-back for a long, long time. To do that tonight, he's a serious player.'
The 27-year-old endured a slow start to life at Stamford Bridge following his £60million move from Brighton in 2022, but has become integral over the last two seasons.
He is now regarded as one of the best full-backs in the division and also won Euro 2024 with Spain last summer.
Against Barca, he produced a defensive masterclass, recording five tackles, two clearances, four recoveries and just one time dribbled past.
He also won seven of his 15 ground duels and his only aerial duel, while being fouled twice during a tireless display.
Cucurella's performance was capped by being named man of the match after keeping Yamal quiet across the 90 minutes.
On the pitch, Chelsea had two early Enzo Fernandez goals ruled out before they finally broke through in the 27th minute when Kounde bundled in an own goal.
Barcelona’s night unravelled further when Ronald Araujo was sent off just before half-time after receiving a second yellow card.
Estevao doubled Chelsea’s lead early in the second half with a thunderous finish, before Delap sealed the result with a late third following a VAR check.
The win lifts Chelsea to fifth in the Champions League league phase after their third victory in five matches.
Barcelona drop to 15th after failing to register more than two shots on target at Stamford Bridge.
samyzane
1
Let's be serious, Cucurella's been doing this.
jinacmnpt
0
Thank you Rooney.you speak the facts not like that one called Neville and the other one called Jamie caragher
AFerogGP7430
0
F**L 🤧🤮
Your past present and future generations
GaddafiJamal
0
Your past present and future generations
F**L 🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
Senseless Junky 🤧🤮
Your past present and future generations
GaddafiJamal
0
Your past present and future generations
Senseless Junky 🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
Senseless Jon 🤧🤮
Your past present and future generations
GaddafiJamal
0
Your past present and future generations
Senseless Jon 🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
Jon🤧🤮
Your past present and future generations
GaddafiJamal
0
Your generation before and after
Jon🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
Jon 🤧🤮
Your generation before and after
GaddafiJamal
0
Like I said your generation before and after
Jon 🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
Senseless Being 🤧🤮
Like I said your generation before and after
GaddafiJamal
0
Shows your generation before and after you lack and will lack sense.
Senseless Being 🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
You Just Don’t Have Sense 🤧🤮
Shows your generation before and after you lack and will lack sense.
GaddafiJamal
0
I don’t know who keeps granting this guy Rooney interviews come tomorrow you’ll hear him say nonsense about the player he just praised yesterday. If Cucu. performance was the best what do you say about Nuno?? both in Champions League and in Nations League pocketing Yamal, dribbling past him and almost the whole Spanish team and even getting Yamal a yellow card. This guy Rooney is a joke,
You Just Don’t Have Sense 🤧🤮
AFerogGP7430
0
Is this nations league or it was champions league?!
Nations league or Champions League all I’m saying is Nuno has pocketed Yamal at least twice and others are learning from him. So Rooney should not be talking about the best performance he’s seen.
Zezesol400
0
I don’t know who keeps granting this guy Rooney interviews come tomorrow you’ll hear him say nonsense about the player he just praised yesterday. If Cucu. performance was the best what do you say about Nuno?? both in Champions League and in Nations League pocketing Yamal, dribbling past him and almost the whole Spanish team and even getting Yamal a yellow card. This guy Rooney is a joke,
Is this nations league or it was champions league?!
SilverLightGlit
3
Thank you Rooney, you speak the facts not like that one called Neville and the other one called Jamie Caragher
nopaciptuz
1
out Puyol
Yeeaclrsz
1
Did you watch nuno Mendez?
Palmer teared Nuno Mendes into pieces during the club world Cup. All goals on that day came from Juno's side.
Rmulbah1992
0
Cucurella is underrated. He is one of best players in Europe
underrated because he is some days good,some days bad.
Rmulbah1992
0
Cucurella is underrated. He is one of the best players in Europe
BEST PLAYER ONLY FOR CHELSEA.
Rmulbah1992
1
HIS PERFORMANCE IS AGAINST THE BEST TEAM IN WORLD, SO IT THE BEST FOR YOU MR. ROONEY.
AFerogGP7430
0
I don’t know who keeps granting this guy Rooney interviews come tomorrow you’ll hear him say nonsense about the player he just praised yesterday. If Cucu. performance was the best what do you say about Nuno?? both in Champions League and in Nations League pocketing Yamal, dribbling past him and almost the whole Spanish team and even getting Yamal a yellow card. This guy Rooney is a joke,
SaadAkhtarKhan
0
Did you watch nuno Mendez?
exactly lol, I'd say every single nuno mendes performance last season after round of 16 was better than cucurella's (who's performance was also pretty neat)
Fapadeknz
2
Cucurella is underrated. He is one of the best players in Europe
Fapadeknz
1
Cucurella is underrated. He is one of best players in Europe
Tamdmnpsu
2
Did you watch nuno Mendez?