CL: Antonio Conte's caution fails to harness best of Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard PicAFPChelsea manager Antonio Conte faces a conundrum of balancing his tendency for caution with the English champions need to score to get past the might of Barcelona in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday Contes plan to contain and counterattack on the La Liga leaders nearly worked to perfection in the first leg three weeks ago as Willian put the hosts in front and also hit the woodwork twice But one Andreas Christensen error cost Contes men dear as Barca pounced for a vital away goal when Andres Iniesta set up Lionel Messi to finally net against Chelsea at the ninth attempt and give Barca the upper hand from a 11 drawHowever whilst Willian shone in Contes strikerless setup Eden Hazard was unable to exert the influence he desires on the biggest stage in an unfamiliar centreforward role We need to repeat the game we played at Stamford Bridge and to try to exploit the chances to score Conte told Chelsea TV following Saturdays 21 win over Crystal Palace hinting that he will opt for a similar approach at the Camp Nou Its important to understand that we must be prepared to suffer if we play with Hazard as number nine or if we play with Olivier Giroud or Alvaro Morata as number nine and Hazard as number 10Hazard certainly suffered when deployed once more in a central role as Chelsea were passed off the park by Manchester City in a 10 defeat nine days ago When you leave the pitch you have the impression that youve ran a lot but that you havent played a game of football said Hazard as City recorded a Premier League record 902 passes and Chelsea failed to muster a single shot on goal We could have played on for three hours and I wouldnt touch a ball For me personally its difficult to play a good game when you only touch the ball three timesMissing MorataThe root of Hazards discontent is Contes lack of faith in either club record singing Morata or Giroud who was hastily recruited on the final day of the January transfer window as a more physical option Hazards best displays throughout his Chelsea career have come when playing off a focal point most notably in two Premier League title winning seasons alongside Diego Costa A fallout with Conte meant Costa was hastily dispatched by the Italian at the end of last season despite playing a huge role in delivering the title Morata was bought to replace his Spanish international teammate and initially struck up an excellent relationship with Hazard However an alarming dip in form allied to injury problems has seen Morata make just one start in two months and fail to score since Boxing DayLikewise Giroud has made just three starts and scored one goal since crossing London to join from Arsenal On the eve of the first leg Hazard welcomed comparisons to fivetime Ballon dOr winners Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but admitted he had to produce far more on a consistent basis in the Champions League to justify such comparisons If you want to be one of the best you have to play well in the big games said the Belgian whose contract expires in 2020 But after Conte claimed playing in a more open style against City and Barcelona would be stupid given their superior quality Hazard may be forgiven for wondering if he can realise his ambitions at Stamford Bridge should Chelsea fail to make the quarterfinals for a fourth straight seasonCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever