In the blue corner: Chelsea's manager in-waiting, Antonio Conte.

And in the red corner: two, perhaps four, of the stars that will be charged with turning around the club's fortunes next season.

Belgium v Italy probably had more of interest riding on it for Chelsea fans than roughly the last 14 games of the 2015-16 Premier League season.

What did we learn from the 2-0 Group E opening match win for the Italians?

The really interesting stuff here, for the hipsters, was the dynamic of Conte's Italy.

Nominally 3-5-2, a pretty worrying formation when considering the tempo and physicality of Premier League football, the reality was something far more fluid.

That meant 3-3-4 in possession, and 4-4-2 when chasing it.

And is there anything more classically English than a resting 4-4-2?

Gesturing: Italy's coach Antonio Conte reacts
Opener: Emanuele Giaccherini of Italy celebrates scoring

That, of course, is what Louis van Gaal spectacularly failed to achieve with his three-at-the-back with wing-backs at Manchester United; and, shown how it is properly done, it becomes a pretty exciting prospect when you take a moment to think about it.

The system felt so secure, because Conte has the benefit of generations of Catenaccio rote leaning drummed into the Italian defensive gene pool.

This, of course, is a fair way from Catenaccio – but it works because it utilises the discipline of players schooled in that system.

What price Leonardo Bonucci to Chelsea, then?

For the more old-school, less beard-stroking viewer, there was plenty else to like about Conte.

After several months of adjusting to a mild-mannered-janitor approach at Chelsea , we last night saw how the Italian lives the game as if he were playing it himself.

From the touchline he bellows, gesticulates and demands.

Woe: Belgium's forward Eden Hazard reacts
Get in! Italy's forward Pelle celebrates his team's second goal

Can you imagine Guus Hiddink receiving a bloodied nose in a technical area goal celebration?

That, of course, may have been in part what the Italians call un'affettazione (and affectation) – a touch of playing to the gallery, following headlines questioning his commitment to the Azzurri.

In the end the Belgians were, but for a few dead-end forays towards the end, completely nullified.

And the Italian media could not believe what they had seen.

Gazzetta dello Sport talked about the 'surprise' of the result, and the 'miracle' of Conte. It urged its readers to 'dream' at what could be possible.

Belgium, for their part, were a team that contained two Chelsea men (Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard), and at least another two with whom the club is strongly linked (Radja Nainggolan and Romelu Lukaku).

And how did they look? Well, more than a bit Chelsea .

Not 2014-15 Chelsea; but the 2015-16 model.

Target: Belgium's midfielder Radja Nianggolan (L) vies with Italy's midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini
Michael Steele/Getty Images
Organiser: Antonio Conte and his staff

There were positives: Nainggolan's shot from distance, not something you tend to expect from a man thought likely to fill John Mikel Obi's boots, a rare highlight in an otherwise anonymous turn; and, after an iffy start, Courtois' excellent save from Graziano Pelle.

Lukaku, offered a decent chance by a somewhat over-cooked Kevin De Bruyne pass, managed to precisely reproduce the form that got him a move out of Chelsea, by lofting a perfectly placed ball to a guy sitting a good yard wide of the far post.

All night his positioning was suspect, and not long after he was withdrawn from action: certainly not a £50m-plus striker on this showing.

The standard wisdom on Belgium is that they are a group of individuals without a team. And, principally, without a coach able to realise their ambitions.

In Conte , Chelsea's Belgians may be about to find that coach.

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