- Mikhailo Mudryk chipped in with a goal and an assist in dominant display
- Before the match fans held placards with Baldock’s squad number 32 on them
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Anyone with a heart was moved by the outpouring of grief for George Baldock from his Panathinaikos family, but Chelsea‘s players had a job to do, and Enzo Maresca‘s reserves were relentless in Athens.
Even without Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Malo Gusto, Nicolas Jackson, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana, they sauntered to victory to remain at the right end of the Conference League table.
Mykhailo Mudryk was among Maresca’s 11 changes who stepped up as the Ukrainian scored one and set up two for Joao Felix, the once great wonderkid of European football seizing the opportunity of a rare start. Christopher Nkunku dispatched the visitors’ fourth via a penalty.
If Chelsea are to go on to win the Conference League, they will encounter tougher tests than Panathinaikos, whose most threatening representative at times felt like the fan who spent the entire match shining a laser pen at the visiting players.
Yet this left Maresca with some thinking to do over whether any of these characters should be troubling his Premier League line-ups, with Newcastle up next at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Joao Felix sent a message to manager Enzo Maresca in the form of an inspired brace
Chelsea’s B-team put on an impressive display in Athens on Thursday night
The Europa Conference League clash kicked off to an emotional atmosphere after tributes were paid to George Baldock
Pedro Neto gained a yard of space on the right before floating an enticing ball into the home team’s box where Mudryk threw himself ahead of his marker to score the second
Christopher Nkunku ignored the distraction of a green laser shone on his face by a mindless member of the crowd to calmly slot home a penalty for four
‘What we want is exactly what they are doing: taking the chance when we give them the chance,’ Maresca said. ‘They showed that.’
With kick-off approaching, a live band began playing David Bowie’s Starman as 70,000 supporters, including those in the Chelsea end, held up green cards bearing Baldock’s No 32. There were banners describing him as ‘immortal’ as well as a minute’s silence.
Panathinaikos would have taken the lead after 90 seconds were it not for Filip Jorgensen. The 22-year-old goalkeeper produced a spectacular save, the type which will do him no harm as he tries to oust Robert Sanchez as Chelsea’s No 1 to stop Tin Jedvaj from heading home.
Chelsea took the lead in the 22nd minute when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s long ball was flicked on by Felix to Mudryk. He returned the favour, setting up Felix for a tap-in to cap the team move.
Mudryk hoped for another assist when he squared the ball to Enzo Fernandez, whose 20-yard rocket was tipped over by Bartlomiej Dragowski as Chelsea went into the break leading 1-0.
In the 48th minute, Chelsea doubled their advantage as Pedro Neto’s cross found Mudryk, who out-jumped Giannis Kotsiras at the back post to head beyond Dragowski.
Mudryk was also involved in it becoming 3-0 as he rolled the ball to Felix, who scored from 20 yards via a wicked deflection from Nemanja Maksimovic. Maresca may not see Felix as a Premier League starter, especially given Palmer is his competition at No 10, but he spent these 90 minutes stating his case emphatically.
When Felix’s cross was blocked by the arm of Maksimovic, Chelsea were awarded a penalty. Rather than let the Portuguese complete his hat-trick, Nkunku took it, ignoring the laser pointers as he made it 4-0.
Panathinaikos got a goal back when Georgios Vagiannidis crossed for Facundo Pellistri but their fans booed at full-time. As for Chelsea, their Conference League campaign shows no sign of faltering despite Maresca’s many changes.