Conte warns Barca after impressive display
STILL IN IT Despite Messi’s away goal, Chelsea boss believes his players are capable of causing an upset at Nou Camp
LONDON: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes the English champions can do “something incredible” by knocking Barcelona out of the Champions League at the Camp Nou on March 14, despite blowing a lead to draw the first leg of their last-16 tie 1-1.
Willian gave reason to a bold team selection from Conte on Tuesday by putting the English champions ahead just after the hour mark.
However, Barca pounced on a very rare Chelsea mistake on the night as Andres Iniesta intercepted a slack pass by Andreas Christensen and squared for Lionel Messi to slot home his first goal in nine appearances against Chelsea.
“We must be realistic. We are talking about Barcelona. They show tonight to be a strong, fantastic team,” said Conte. “We have showed that if we are ready to work very hard together defensively, but continue to have the right feeling when you win the ball when you have the chance to score, we can try to do something incredible at the Nou Camp.”
Conte named a front three without a recognised centre-forward with Willian and Pedro Rodriguez either side of Eden Hazard, while Christensen started in place of club captain Gary Cahill.
And Conte refused to pin the blame on the inexperienced Dane for conceding. “I think it was a great performance, an incredible performance,” added Conte.
“We’re talking about a player he’s only 21. It’s great that he can play this game with this maturity. I am very happy. For me he was one of the best players tonight.”
And whilst Barca boss Ernesto Valverde welcomed the slight advantage gained from a sub-standard performance, he warned Chelsea possess the threat on the counterattack to still land a knockout blow. “It is very important to have scored here and logically both teams will respect their own style in the second leg. They have the attacking resources to cause us problems. “It is important to have the advantage, but it is far from decided.”
For us he is the best player in the world. He's not just any player. We have a lot of faith in him. We know that what we need to do is free him up as much as possible. And it's not easy for him, he gets so little space, it's hard for him IVAN RAKITIC, Barcelona midfielder on Messi