Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for Chelsea as they thumped Hull City 4-0 in Friday night's FA Cup tie.
Willian scored two goals, ripped Hull apart with his skill and pace, and as further goals from Pedro and Olivier Giroud rubbed salt in Hull's wounds, he firmly staked his claim for a place against Barcelona on Tuesday night.
Chelsea were four goals ahead by the 42nd minute at Stamford Bridge last night in as great a mismatch as the Cup has seen this season, with Hull understrength and clearly saving themselves for a desperate Championship relegation battle.
Blues boss Antonio Conte remarked afterwards: “Good game, good performance. It was great for us. The most important thing is that we are in the next round. Now we have to prepare for the game against Barcelona.
“You hope to always have a game that you can dominate. Our start was impressive. We started with great focus and concentration, will to score and wanted to go to the next round. I'm really pleased with the commitment of my players.
“It was a positive night for us because we had the opportunity to rest some important players. At the same time, I saw players in good form. I have different options. Now we have three days to make the best decision for the game against Barcelona.
“We lost two games at the end of a busy period. Now we have the right confidence again. But in the next two weeks we have to play massive games and we must be strong – Barcelona, United and City. We are ready."
Meanwhile, Hull City boss Nigel Adkins admits they struggled to compete on the night.
He remarked: "They were very good in first half, we gifted them some positions but we knew it was going to be a tough ask. We were not close enough in the first, but the second half a totally different story.
"We could have taken foot off the gas,but we were a lot more assertive, the players responded in a positive manner and we have 15 cup finals now. It was good character.
"We came with a game plan that went out of the window within two minutes. It's a great learning lesson for some of the younger players – you cannot give the ball away cheaply, but the players showed great spirit in the second half because there is a spirit around ourselves."
