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Willian and Pedro step up for Chelsea to seal last-16 spot… but Antonio Conte’s tactics leave them on the fringes

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Antonio Conte made it clear he did not enjoy taking a 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan, but the performances of Willian and Pedro will surely lighten his mood.

The Chelsea coach has spent the past few days moaning about the inconvenience of such a long Champions League excursion to Baku before a testing match at Liverpool on Saturday.

One suspects that even beating Qarabag to progress to the last 16 was not enough to make him feel the physical and mental sacrifice was worth it.

However, the displays of two established internationals, who have had fringe roles recently, would have made the return journey a bit easier.

Willian’s and Pedro’s statistics are the same this season. Each has started just 10 games in three months - half of Chelsea’s fixtures. The pair have also been named in the first XI in the Premier League only six times apiece.

Given their vast experience, it would be easy for them to sulk about being given a token opportunity against arguably the weakest side in Europe’s premier club competition.

Yet, Conte got the response he must have dreamed of. They both shone and ensured that the risk of playing Eden Hazard as a false nine paid off.

Willian scored twice and won two penalties, although both had a hint of controversy about them.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Pedro was his usual menacing self and was only denied a great goal by a combination of an illegal trip and a fine bit of goalkeeping.

Chelsea captain Gary Cahill was not surprised at their impact, telling Standard Sport: “I thought the pair of them came in and did very well. I don’t think their lack of games is anything to do with their level of performances, it is to do with the formation the manager decides to play. They showed again how special, and how important, they can be for us.”

Despite their displays, they will surely have to remain patient. It looks as though Conte’s preferred formation has switched from 3-4-3 to 3-5-2 and that means there will be many more occasions when there will no room for them in the line-up.

But Cahill added: “The squad is going to be vital and the manager is clearly going to rotate with the fixture pile-up we’ve got all the way up to January-February time. It is important that everyone is ready to go.

“The manager has changed formation a couple of times. Obviously with that [3-4-3] system, they are two of the best wide players I have played with, with the ball at their feet. It allows them to go and express themselves.”

The pair impressed so much that David Luiz’s return to the line-up, after being left out of the past two games, was overshadowed.

Standard Sport understands that relations between Luiz and Conte have improved over the past fortnight. The centre-half was dropped after comments made following the 3-0 loss at Roma earlier this month, although it is believed the problems date back to September, at least.

Andreas Christensen’s form has contributed to a degree and the 21-year-old, who was an unused substitute here, is still likely to face Liverpool rather than Luiz.

Chelsea have booked their place in the last 16 with a game to spare, which is some achievement given they picked up just one point from two games against Roma.

However, their final fixture in the group at home to Atletico Madrid still has a lot riding on it. Despite losing to Atletico last night, Roma know three points at home to Qarabag will require Chelsea to beat the La Liga club to secure top spot.