Conte had earlier hinted that he will rest some key players for the Blues’ Group C clash against the Azerbaijani champions Qarabag at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday and stayed true to his word after making five changes to the team that beat Leicester in the league at the weekend.
Among those changes was Michy Batshuayi replacing in-form summer signing Alvaro Morata and Davide Zappacosta being handed his first Chelsea start in place of wing-back Victor Moses.
Both changes reaped rewards with Batshuayi scoring twice – though the striker’s second goal was later awarded as a Maksim Medvedev own goal and Zappacosta scoring with a stunning effort and causing havoc on the right generally to send Chelsea top of their Champions League group after their opener.
Club vice-captain Azpilicueta stressed the need for every player to perform at their fullest when called upon by Antonio Conte.
The defender told Standard Sport when asked about Batshuayi’s showing on Tuesday: “We need everyone in the squad, we know it’s a long season – we have games every three days.
“That’s what we need, everyone pushing together to get the job done and making it difficult for the manager [to select his team]. For a striker to get a goal was important for him.
“The feeling [in the dressing room] is that we have to work hard and go game by game. We are the current [Premier League] champions but we are still in September and have the whole season ahead.
“When we lost against Burnley, it wasn’t finished. It isn’t finished now. We have to carry on with our mentality and try to win the trophies we want.”
Azpilicueta was himself on the scoresheet as he scored with a header off Fabregas’ exquisite cross. It was his first Champions League goal and the defender was jubilant.
And when asked about how special it was to score his first goal in Europe’s premier competition, Azpilicueta replied: “It is always nice to score [because] it’s not my job.
