Chelsea thrash minnows Qarabag in Champions League opener

Well that brings an end to our live coverage from Stamford Bridge . We'll have all the reaction from here and across Europe over the next few hours but until then, it's goodbye. We're back tomorrow with live coverage of Tottenham and Liverpool's start to the campaign.

Full time: Chelsea 6-0 Qarabag

Chelsea complete a fourth straight win to warm-up for the visit of Arsenal with a comfortable win to kick-start their Champions League campaign. Goals for Pedro, Davide Zappacosta, Cesar Azpilicueta, Tiemoue Bakayoko and two for Michy Batshuayi delivered victory as the errors streamed from Qarabag. Eden Hazard got half an hour under his belt to improve his claim to start this weekend too. Overall, a perfect night for Antonio Conte.

Three added minutes. God knows why.

This. This.

I doubt you will see many more one-sided Champions League ties this season. Qarabag were spirited in the first half, but have fallen apart in the second. Chelsea, to their credit, have taken full advantage.

Arsenal have been bad this season, and though they're no Qarabag, they will be concerned by how easy this has been for Chelsea. Four wins in a row now for Antonio Conte's men, just in time for the visit of one of their favourite opponents.

Michy Batshuayi nets the first of his double as Chelsea pull away.

GOAL! Chelsea 6-0 Qarabag (Michy Batshuayi)

It's more like QaraBAD at Stamford Bridge. First Guerrier and then Huseynov clear the ball against Chelsea players and when Zappacosta crosses into the six-yard box Batshuayi converts via a host of deflections into an empty net.

GOAL! Chelsea 5-0 Qarabag (Michy Batshuayi)

Maybe I am being a little harsh on Qarabag, but they have been woeful in this second half and another mistake sees them concede a fifth. They give the ball away in their own half trying to pass it out from defence and it falls for Batshuayi who after a tough evening fires past Sehic, who had no chance again.

Antonio Conte has been at his energetic best tonight.

Antonio Rudiger on for Azpilicueta as we enter the final 16 minutes. Perfect night for Antonio Conte, you fancy, with Arsenal to come here on Sunday. They won't fancy this.

GOAL! Chelsea 4-0 Qarabag (Tiemoue Bakayoko)

The wheels have come off Qarabag now as Chelsea plunder a fourth. Hazard takes on a short corner, his cross is barely half-cleared and Bakayoko swings a leg and the ball is deflects into the roof of the net. Poorest goal of the night by some margin.

Mahir Madatov and Joshgun Diniyev on for Qarabag. Final throw of the dice? I think we're beyond that. Twenty minutes to go.

OFF THE BAR! Willian and Hazard combine and the Brazilian thrashes goalwards but it cracks the top of the bar and flies over.

Antonio Conte clearly has an eye on Arsenal and replaces N'Golo Kante with Tiemoue Bakayoko, the summer signing from Monaco. Still a little under half an hour to go.

Cesar Azpilicueta celebrates heading Chelsea into a three-goal lead.

Eden Hazard coming on for a 33-minute cameo. Pedro, who started the scoring tonight, is replaced.

GOAL! Chelsea 3-0 Qarabag (Cesar Azpilicueta)

From that free-kick Chelsea get their third and the insurance policy in this game. Fabregas is given loads of time to pick out a cross and Azpilicueta ghosts in and heads beyond Sehic. Too easy.

Chelsea are frustrating Qarabag with some neat one-touch football and Guerrier has had enough, taking out Willian on the right-hand side.

Good start from Qarabag as a sustained period of possession ends with Ndlovu shooting from 30 yards and Courtois grasping the ball at the second time of asking.

Second half underway at Stamford Bridge just as the internet cuts out. You've missed nothing, but it is teaming with rain in west London. Eden Hazard warming up.

Half-time: Chelsea 2-0 Qarabag

Routine for Chelsea on their return to Europe. Goals for Pedro and Davide Zappacosta - though how much he knew about it is uncertain - have the hosts ahead of Qarabag's Champions League debut. It could be many more but with the game won Antonio Conte will have an eye on Arsenal on Sunday.

Zappacosta whips Chelsea into a two-goal lead.

Kante gives the ball away with eight Chelsea players ahead of the ball and it gives Henrique a chance to run at the back four. He tries to find Ndlovu but Cahill intervenes, before Christiansen and Alonso clear the danger.

Henrique cuts inside and shoots firmly but straight at Courtois. That's as good as it has got for Qarabag tonight. They're been dominated from the outset tonight.

GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Qarabag (Davide Zappacosta)

For those who saw Harry Kane's first goal at Everton at the weekend, read and repeat. Davide Zappacosta raids down the right and with a clear eye on those players in the middle he crosses towards the middle but his miss-hits it and it flies into the top corner past a despairing Sehic.

Pedro thrashes Chelsea into a first half lead.

Chelsea already look like they're toying with Qarabag, as Fabregas clips the ball over the defence to find Zappacosta, whose header forces Sehic into an acrobatic save - albeit from an offside position. A second is surely coming.

First we've seen of Willian in full flight and he combines beautifully with Batshuayi but when Sehic parries the shot, the Belgian can't finish the follow-up as he fires into the side netting.

Dino Ndlovu [no he isn't] tries to put Qarabag back in the game but his strike from a free kick from a tight angle is well over.

Yellow card for Gary Cahill on his return after he clatters into Henrique, who limps off the field and is getting treatment. That could be the end of his night.

Anyone who believes Antonio Conte may have lost the stomach for the fight needs to look at the Italian again. The former Juventus boss is firmly back to his energetic best, pacing up and down his technical area an demanding faultlessness for every individual. This team won't be allowed to regress like a few years ago.

GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Qarabag (Pedro)

The Premier League champions take a little over five minutes to get into their stride. A corner is taken short on the right and it is pulled back towards Pedro who has 10 yards of room to approach the ball and smash it into the top corner.

Fast start in west London. Chelsea want a penalty when Christiansen is felled in the area - looked a bit soft to me - before Alonso tests Sehic with a high rasping drive. A volley then falls the Spaniard's way which is blocked and cleared from danger.

Goodness me fast start made by Qarabag, twice threatening down the right. Pedro Henrique gets away from Alonso and tries to cross into a dangerous area, but he runs it too far and it goes behind.

Underway at Stamford Bridge, as we are across Europe. The heavens have opened.

Teams on their way out at Stamford Bridge. As is the way in the modern world, reporters all around me are filming the entire thing. Most of them will get back to work at some stage, I'm sure.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte on BT Sport: "We are proud to play in this competition this season. We are looking forward to playing. I think that now we are ready."

Back to Stamford Bridge, and I am sure you will be delighted to here it is not as cold or brisk as I was imagining it would. The decision not to bring a second layer as paid off. The teams have been announced to both teams and we're nearly ready to go.

BREAKING NEWS

Away from the Champions League, Crystal Palace have confirmed the appointment of Roy Hodgson as their new manager after the dismissal of Roy Hodgson. At 70 years old he becomes the oldest Premier League boss ever in his first job since resigning as the England manager after Euro 2016.

A look at the Champions League odds for the 2017-18 season tells its own story of where the Premier League stands on the European football landscape. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG and Barcelona lead the way before you encounter the first English side.

Manchester City and Manchester United sit above Juventus before you come across the name of Chelsea, who are eighth favourites to repeat their triumph from 2012. You can get odds of 18/1 with some outlets, which sounds like pretty good money to me.

Qarabag have only once come up against English opposition before, just two years ago when they faced Tottenham in the Europa League. Spurs won both games, including 3-1 at White Hart Lane, but not before going behind to the Azerbaijan side. If you need your reminding, check out my report from the game.

Fans assemble outside Stamford Bridge ahead of kick-off.

The Chelsea bench for tonight's game has finally been confirmed and there is a place for both Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard. I fancy the former will get a run-out regardless of the result.

Chelsea substitutes: Caballero, Rudiger, David Luiz, Moses, Bakayoko, Hazard, Morata.

The game at Chelsea tonight is of course not the only game going on in the Champions League tonight. There are seven other games including Manchester United vs Basel and Celtic vs PSG, and we have a live blog covering all the other goings on in Europe here. No need to go anywhere, really.

I saw quite a number of Morata shirts on my way to Stamford Bridge this afternoon, so I imagine there will be a fair few disappointed fans tonight, with many hoping to see the new Spain striker for the first time in the flesh. Michy Batshuayi will lead the attack in a rare vote of confident from Antonio Conte. Can he pick up from where he left off last season?

And here come the Qarabag starting line-up...

Five changes for Chelsea from the win over Leicester. Thomas Christiansen, Gary Cahill, Davide Zappacosta, Willian and Michy Batshuayi come in for the Blues, with Luiz, Rudiger, Morata, Bakayoko and Moses dropping out.

Chelsea team is in....

Can you remember what you were doing on 11 July? On a beach, in the bar or sunning yourself somewhere on the continent.

Qarabag's players will remember what they were doing that day too. They begun their Champions League campaign exactly two months ago yesterday against FC Samtredia. Six matches later and they have taken their place in the Champions League group stage for the first time.

Regardless of the result, it is a major night for the Azerbaijan champions, whose players will dine out on tonight if they can get anything resembling a result. A win should surely be one of the biggest shocks in this competition's long history.

Storm Aileen might be threatening to batter the United Kingdom this evening but it is likely to avoid London somewhat, though rain and high winds are expected around Stamford Bridge; a combination which never makes for a great game of football.

So how might Chelsea line up tonight, given they welcome Arsenal to Stamford Bridge on Sunday?

Eden Hazard made a cameo appearance against Leicester so might be given a bit longer tonight to ensure he can play a full part at the weekend. Charly Musonda has meanwhile hinted he could make his full debut tonight.

Deadline day signing Davide Zappacosta could also make his full debut, but Danny Drinkwater is injured and likely to miss out. Gary Cahill should return having served a domestic ban.

A warm welcome to anyone joining us for tonight's Champions League group match from Stamford Bridge, on the opening night of competition in this season's group stage. We're live in west London soaking up the atmosphere and all the build-up ahead of the game which is significant - for entirely different reasons - for both sides. Teams news should on the way imminently. But how might both sides line-up?

After Jose Mourinho's disastrous final season in charge of Chelsea which failed to see the club qualify for European competition, the Blues are back where they'll feel they become among the continent's elite. Under Antonio Conte they are a different animal entirely since those days and must be considered the best equipped side to emerge as the Premier League's greatest threat for this year's Champions League.

The west Londoners have recovered from a shaky start to the season and though Conte will ring the changes tonight there is little doubt the English champions are in a better place now than they were after the opening day loss to Burnley.

Opponents tonight Qarabag are playing in the Champions League proper for the first time ever after coming through three rounds of qualifying. Their campaign began on 11 July would you believe, when many of Chelsea's players will have been sunning themselves. But the Azerbaijan champions have not come to Stamford Bridge in search of selfies and mementos on what is easily the biggest night in the club's short history.

All the build-up and the all-important team news ahead of the 7:45pm kick-off on the way.