While no Chelsea player opted to take the No.9 shirt for Chelsea in the 2022-23 season before striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived from Barcelona in a deadline day transfer, the Gabonese took it and already seems to be breaking the myth.
Chelsea jersey No.9 was labelled “cursed” after the majority of the last 16 players that donned it tended to have been unsuccessful at the club with the most recent case being that of Belgian attacker Romelu Lukaku who only managed to score 8 goals in 26 Premier League games and decided to return to Inter Millan.
Aubameyang has since kicked off his campaign in the Chelsea colors on a high having already been directly involved in three goals in his first four matches for the Blues, scoring back-to-back.
There is no doubt that Chelsea had a poor start to their Champions League campaign this season and that’s why AC Milan were somewhat favourites when the two locked horns in Wednesday night’s showdown for the first time in 23 years.
With the odds stacked against them, the Blues reignited their hopes of reaching the Champions League last 16 with a resounding performance which saw them emerge as 3-0 victors over the Serie A Champions at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea got the opening goal through former Leicester City man Wesley Fofana in the 24th minute before he was forced out of the match due to an injury in the 38th minute while Aubameyang and Reece James both scored in the second half to salvage all three points as Graham Potter got his first Champions League victory.
The Blues now sit second in Group E level with Millan on 4 points after round three while Austrian Champions Redbull Salzburg are topping the group with 5 points after beating Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
