Chelsea’s win over Qarabag in the Champions league helped them push beyond the finish line as they made the round of 16 with a fairly changed starting 11.
Antonio Conte started David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger who replaced Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill in defense while Willian and Pedro came in for Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata.
Willian grabbed a brace for the first time in the Champions league for Chelsea, while Hazard and Fabregas scored thte other two goals in a 4-0 drubbing. The changes Cone made to his side did not seems to affect their momentum, after their two wins in the Premier League against Manchester United and West Brom.
Conte was left grateful for his players’ contribution to the win over a tricky Qarabag who stopped Spanish giants Atletico Madrid twice in the group stage.
“Tonight was very positive. I knew very well this type of game would not be easy. Don’t forget Atletico [Madrid] are in trouble because they drew twice against Qarabag.
We must be pleased that we reached our first target: going through to the next round of the Champions League, and avoiding the Atletico game [on 5 December] being decisive for us. It’s a good chance to do more rotation with my players. Tonight I did many rotations and to see every single player answer very well is great for me.”
Antonio Conte, Evening Standard
Chelsea will now have to win against Atletico Madrid to secure top spot in the group stage after the Spanish side beat AS Roma 2-0 in the other Group C game on Wednesday.
