João Félix leads the attack as Chelsea beat Noah with a last-16 | European Conference League

When the idea for the Europa Conference League first came up at UEFA, probably no one in Nyon would have imagined that a club of Chelsea's fortunes would one day score six unanswered goals in the first half against an Armenian club that had only scored seven was founded years ago.

The point is that this competition was created for the benefit of Europe's smaller clubs. There is little to gain for Chelsea, but the prospect of another European Cup to add to their extensive haul should appeal to their fans and the truth is that there was something a little absurd about that 8-0 victory over Noah.

For João Félix it was less a competition than a shooting exercise, and it spoke volumes that Enzo Maresca was once again able to make eleven changes without disrupting his team's flow. Chelsea maintained their perfect record to move to the top of the league stage, while Maresca benefited mainly from members of their expensively assembled reserve team building confidence and momentum. Marc Guiu and Tosin Adarabioyo scored their first goals for the club, Enzo Fernández scored a hat-trick of assists and Mykhailo Mudryk drew the applause after a beautiful curling shot.

It was fun from the start. There was an early rush from Noah, Gonçalo Gregório left alone and free to test Filip Jörgensen with a determined try, but their attempts at play were hopelessly naive. Chelsea soon awoke from their slumber and the defeat should have begun soon. The visitors were torn to shreds by Tyrique George, only for Félix to deny the debutant an assist by managing to deflect his cross away from an empty net.

For Félix, it was a candidate for failure of the season, even if his faith was undiminished. For Noah, this was at least an opportunity to see why the Portuguese striker was once considered one of Europe's hottest talents. Félix had time to do as he pleased alongside Christopher Nkunku, the other No.10, and was nonchalant when another chance arose in the 21st minute, although in reality the pressure had rather eased as Chelsea Already leading 3-0 against former Atlético, the Madrid striker scored a great finish against Ognjen Cancarevic after being released by Fernández.

With four goals to go and more than an hour to go, Chelsea were able to relax. After twelve minutes the floodgates opened, Tosin nodded in from Fernández's corner and Noah was soon punished again. Gonçalo Silva's pass across the defense was short and Guiu pushed the ball into the goal with a powerful finish.

This was an evening to boost morale. Fernández converted another corner, so Axel Disasi headed in the third half. Mudryk made it 5-0 when he moved in from the left and directed a beautiful shot into the top corner from 25 meters.

Rui Mota, Noah's manager, had used his pre-game press conference to make the statement everyone wanted: No, he said, his team would not park the ark. But his humor seemed to disappear as he watched the shots rain down on the away goal. Nkunku and George went close before Disasi turned playmaker, swapping right-back for attacking midfield and releasing Félix, who scored the sixth goal just before half-time.

The only question was whether Chelsea would let up in the second half. Maresca made changes, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Cesare Casadei replaced Guiu and Fernández, and there was slight relief near the home bench. Nicolas Jackson was very pleased with himself after balancing a cup of soup on Marc Cucurella's head.

Down on the pitch, Félix was chasing his hat-trick and Nkunku was threatening to score. Cancarevic kept going and asking for treatment. A cynic could be forgiven for thinking the goalkeeper would do anything to get sent off.

Noah refused to lie down. It was absurd that they were trying to compete with a team that had so much depth. Nkunku went through, saw a shot blocked and Cancarevic collapsed with his head in his hands as Nkunku hooked the rebound.

Remember, Chelsea did this without Cole Palmer, who was allowed to rest his legs on Thursday night. They even had help from the referees, a call from the video assistant referee for an alleged foul on Dewsbury-Hall allowed Nkunku to end the score with a penalty, highlighting the Premier League's financial strength.