Chelsea 4-2 Gent: Comfortable win in the Conference League for the team with 11 changes

As much as Chelsea and their head coach Enzo Maresca should be proud that their second eleven looked like a well-coordinated group of stars capable of playing in the Premier League, this game was largely uncompetitive.

Mudryk, Neto, Dewsbury-Hall, Nkunku and Tosin Adarabioyo were among the stars to emerge from the depths of the huge 29-man squad pictured in this year's team photo two weeks ago.

Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana were not selected for this competition – they were allowed to rest every Thursday – while Ben Chilwell simply fell out of favor.

Despite this, Maresca decided not to select either Nicolas Jackson or Jadon Sancho and gave them the evening off.

It could have given Gent courage, but against the run of play they were only able to score twice through Watanabe and Gandelman, with Englishman Archie Brown and Andri, the son of former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, on target.

But Chelsea's £400m team could have scored more against Gent, whose most expensive signing ever, £6m Momodou Sonko, was on the bench.

In fact, a report from the transfer room website suggested that Chelsea's £1.1 billion squad is worth the same as the other 35 teams in the Conference League combined.

They are therefore strong favorites to win the European title this season. This estimated squad value is nothing to be ashamed of for the Blues – it simply highlights how European football is changing as England's top flight dominates, particularly when it comes to teams outside the continent's big five leagues.