Even with the cropping that obscures some details, and even with such videos suffering from the same limitation as Opta stats — no off-the-ball events are shown, and what a player does without the ball is almost as important as what they do with it — it was still an impressive 75 minutes from the Chelsea academy youngster.
Good strength (physical and mental, especially after that super early yellow card), good vision and accuracy, driving runs, several fouls drawn, a couple tackles for good measure, and maybe even a penalty won (but not given) ... it was a fairly complete performance. Though it wouldn't hurt to smile every once in a while, kid!
The manager was suitably impressed as well, especially with the speed of ball movement through the middle thanks to Fabregas and RLC.
"He played very well which is very good for us. He is in conditions to compete with the other players for opportunities and minutes, but he is having minutes. He is potentially a very good player but you have to feed these young players and choose the right moment. The reality is his evolution is important and good."
-Jose Mourinho; source: Chelsea FC
Ruben himself was quite happy to get his first Champions League start, enjoying the occasion and looking forward to more of the same in the near future. So say we all.