Eden Hazard tells Antonio Conte where his best position is after playing 'false nine' against Barcelona

 

Chelsea's Eden Hazard (L) being trailed by Barcelona's Paulinho (R) in Uefa Champions League match [Photo: Courtesy]

Chelsea wizard Eden Hazard has told boss Antonio Conte he'd prefer not to play as a false nine after the Belgian started up top against Barcelona on Tuesday night.

The Italian tactician surprised Blues fans by deciding against playing a recognised striker in the last-16 Champions League bout, with both Alvaro Morata and Oliver Giroud on the bench.

It proved to be a shrewd choice with Chelsea's front three of Hazard, Pedro and Willian all having superb games, with the latter hitting the post twice before opening the scoring.

But speaking after the match, the 27-year-old told reporters: "To be honest, I like the role as a false nine. But in games like that against quality opposition like Barcelona, it’s difficult.

"You don’t get a lot of balls. I might have touched 25 balls that night and 15 of them were flying towards my head.

"That is not really playing to my qualities. I won some aerial duels against Gerard Pique, and that’s not bad.

"But if I had to choose, I prefer to play like I did in the last 10 minutes, which was out wide. But it’s the manager who has the final word. On the wing I feel more comfortable. That’s my place."

Lionel Messi's late equaliser came after a mix-up in the Chelsea defence and Hazard admits it will be tough for his side to progress.

"In games like that you have to be 100 per cent focused," he said. "One error, one goal. We should have scored more.

"We complicated it ourselves. A draw is a bad result. We won’t be able to think defensively in Barcelona. If we only think about defending, we’ll be in a lot of trouble. We will go to try to win. We have to win, we have to score."