The scene is Stamford Bridge – half-time in the 5th Round FA Cup tie between the Blues and Hull City, and the damage has all been done.

Chelsea led 4-0 at the interval, and that’s how it stayed as more experienced players were rested ahead of the Barcelona double-header, and the away trips to the two Mancs.

Job over, and Chelsea in the draw for the next phase of a competition they like to call their own.

Willian scored the first in one and three-quarter minutes, jinking past defenders and firing left-footed past an immobile David Marshall.

It was 2-0 after 28 minutes as Pedro collected an exquisite upfield punt from Cesc Fabregas, took one touch and rifled home.

Four minutes later, Willian got his second, then three minutes before the break Olivier Giroud scored with a cheeky backheel to make it 4-0.

And so it stayed, with the second half including chances for Callum Hudson-Odoi and Kyle Scott to come on for a decent bit of experience.

The real drama came when Fabregas upended 20-year-old Harry Wilson – a Liverpool loanee – in the box, and ref Andre Marriner quite rightly gave a penalty.

Up stepped David Meyler… but Willy Caballero guessed right and saved, keeping a clean sheet and sparing Fabregas’s blushes.

During the relatively uneventful second half, one of the men of the match, Ethan Ampadu, took a hefty accidental kick to the back of his head, but fortunately his extraordinary haystack hairstyle absorbed a lot of the impact.

Ampadu’s quiet, understated reassurance is something to marvel act. He’s also a quiet but effective organiser. A future Chelsea captain, perhaps?

The big drama now begins, with Barcelona’s visit in midweek, then two successive trips to Manchester before the Barcelona away leg.