Joe Claims compares Chelsea youngster with Barcelona legend Luis Suarez after 3-1 win over FC Astana – as ex-Blues winger claims the club have ‘a real gem’
- Chelsea achieved a 3-1 victory over FC Astana in the UEFA Conference League
- After the match, pundit Joe Cole praised one Chelsea star in particular
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Chelsea legend Joe Cole has compared one of the club’s youngsters to Barcelona legend Luis Suarez after their 3-1 win over FC Astana on Thursday evening.
In frigid climes, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca shuffled the pack and saw the rotation soon pay off as Marc Guiu found the back of the net inside fourteen minutes.
The former Barcelona youngster helped the side double the score four minutes later, before Renato Veiga struck just before 40 minutes to put them in the driver’s seat.
It was 18-year-old Guiu, who had scored just once for the Blues ahead of their clash with FC Astana, who caught the eye of former Chelsea winger Cole.
On TNT Sports, Cole said, “Marc Guiu! He must have seen Luis Suarez as a young man in Barcelona. He has great movement.
Dissecting Guiu’s first goal, he said: ‘He makes a run from inside to outside and it’s all about skill and athleticism as he drives just past this centre-back. That’s excellent from a young man. It’s a great ending.”
Chelsea stormed to a 3-1 victory over FC Astana in their UEFA Conference League match
After the match, TNT Sports pundit Joe Cole was full of praise for one Chelsea player
However, Cole’s adoration for Guiu didn’t stop there. After full-time, the former Chelsea star returns to the microphone to praise the striker.
‘I love Marc Guiu. Like I said, this is exactly the game where he gives you energy and aggression with his running.
“Just think, this boy is 18, how big and strong he’ll be when he’s older. I think Chelsea I have a real gem there.
‘I think he is a Chelsea player, but maybe in a year’s time he will be. We don’t know which path he will choose, but he is certainly very talented.’
Karen Carney, who joined Cole as a pundit on TNT Sports, agreed, saying: “I can’t believe his physicality for an 18-year-old. To use his body and his strength [like that]. This is what this competition is about: increasing player confidence.
Meanwhile, Chelsea fans who made the journey have received a moving promotional gift on the occasion of the gigantic journey.
The Uefa Conference League tie in Almaty is the furthest the Blues have ever traveled for a European match, with the Almaty Ortalyk Stadium a whopping 5,485 kilometers from Stamford Bridge.
Cole claimed that Chelsea have a ‘real gem’ in striker Marc Guiu
The ex-Chelsea star even compared Guiu to former Barcelona striker Luis Suarez
The last time Chelsea traveled this far for European competition was during the 2019 Europa League final, but Azerbaijan’s Baku National Stadium was just 3,000 miles from west London.
After arriving in Kazakhstan halfway through the 7,000-mile journey on Thursday, fans were greeted with temperatures of minus 10 on match day.
But after a ten-hour (or more) journey from London, the supporters who made the journey were also given a momento to mark the milestone.
Mail Sport reported that fans were given a commemorative keyring when they collected their tickets the afternoon before the game.
