Marc Guiu made a remarkable impact by scoring a first-half hat trick, leading Chelsea to a dominant 5-1 victory over Shamrock Rovers on Thursday. This win secured Chelsea’s flawless record in the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, finishing with a perfect streak.
The young forward, who previously scored twice in a 3-1 victory over Astana in the earlier round, opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a precise header from close range at Stamford Bridge.
Despite a brief equalizer from Irish side Shamrock Rovers courtesy of Markus Poom, Guiu quickly restored Chelsea’s lead with a well-placed shot from the left side in the 34th minute. Just six minutes later, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall increased the advantage to 3-1, before Guiu capped off his hat trick with another header during stoppage time.
Dewsbury-Hall expressed enthusiasm about Guiu’s performance, stating, “I’ve never seen anyone press like him. He doesn’t slow down; he’ll keep working hard. You forget how young he is. He’s only 18. I’m happy that he got his hat trick; he deserves it.”
Since joining Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, Guiu has been in exceptional form, registering six goals in six matches within the competition. Marc Cucurella added to the rout in the second half.
The victory marks Chelsea’s eighth consecutive win across all competitions, matching a club record established in December 2016. In the revised Conference League format, the top eight clubs will qualify directly for the round of 16 in March, while teams ranked from ninth to 24th will enter knockout playoffs in February. The last 12 teams in the standings will be eliminated.
In contrast to the revamped Champions League and Europa League, teams in the Conference League face six opponents instead of eight during the league phase, which replaced the traditional group stage. Notably, Chelsea was the only team to maintain a perfect record, qualifying for the round of 16 with a match to spare and amassing a total of 26 goals across six games—the highest in the tournament.
Despite suffering their first defeat in the competition, Shamrock Rovers concluded their campaign in 10th place, making history as the first Irish club to reach the knockout stage of a European tournament.
In other matches, Rolando Mandragora scored for Fiorentina just three minutes before the end, securing a 1-1 draw against Vitória, which allowed the Portuguese club to claim second place with 14 points. Fiorentina, the runner-up in the past two seasons, finished one point behind in third.
Rapid Vienna progressed by defeating Copenhagen 3-0 to secure fourth place with 13 points. Djurgården also achieved a 3-1 victory over Legia Warsaw, finishing in fifth place with the same point total. Lugano ended in sixth position after drawing 2-2 at home with Cypriot side Pafos, while Cercle Brugge’s 1-1 stalemate against Basaksehir was sufficient for them to claim eighth place.