Antonio Conte to consult with Chelsea players on tactics

Antonio Conte intends to consult his players over how best to overcome Barcelona on Wednesday, a move which should allow Eden Hazard to argue against his deployment as a false No 9, as he seeks to “share responsibility” before the game at the Camp Nou.

Chelsea travel to Catalonia on Tuesday bolstered by the timely weekend victory against Crystal Palace and with their Champions League tie finely balanced at 1-1. Hazard went public with his frustrations at being used in a central attacking role after the first leg and, again, in the wake of the meek 1-0 defeat at Manchester City, suggesting it was not a best use of his qualities, and he was impressive on the left on Saturday as Olivier Giroud led the line.

The Frenchman is an increasingly favourable option at the Camp Nou, where Chelsea will expect to be starved of the ball, given Hazard’s reluctance to play through the middle and the reality that Álvaro Morata is still struggling for form and confidence. The Spaniard has not scored since Boxing Day and in his 18-minute cameo against Palace he was booked after an altercation with James Tomkins and risked a second for complaining to an assistant referee near the corner flag in stoppage time.

Conte is expected to hold a team meeting at Cobham on Monday as preparations step up for the tie against Barça and has taken the unusual step of suggesting he will listen to his players’ opinions on Chelsea’s tactical approach. “Sometimes it is important also to share the responsibility with the players that you have to prepare for this type of game,” he said.

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“In every game I have to decide the starting XI and not the players, because the players are the players and the manager is the manager. But sometimes, before this type of game, it is more important to involve totally the players and then to listen. This tie seems close and, for this reason, I think that we have to try the best plan for the game against Barcelona.”

Conte watched his former club Juventus eliminate Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley last week despite drawing the first leg at home but does not feel his current squad is capable of emulating the Italian club’s streetwise approach in their own fixture at Barça. “With Juve, don’t forget you are talking about a team with many players with great experience, many who have won or played in a final of the Champions League many times,” he said. “We don’t have this same experience. It is something you have to build over years.

“For sure, Juventus showed great resilience, they suffered a lot and, in the right minute, they killed Tottenham. My team has not got great experience but players who need that experience: people like [Andreas] Christensen, [Tiemoué] Bakayoko are young, or we have players playing for the first time or the second time in the Champions League. So we have to work as a team and try to be ready, to suffer in the moment, but also know we have the chance to go to score.”