ONLY FA CUP & TOP FOUR CAN SAVE US
Alonso warning for Blues after Barca defeat..
MARCOS ALONSO has warned Chelsea face a desperate battle to salvage their season.
Antonio Conte’s fallen champions have now only got the FA Cup and a place in the top four left to aim for after crashing out of the Champions League.
Their lame surrender of the Premier League title looks certain to end Conte’s reign, whatever happens in the final two months of the campaign.
But Alonso believes they can still get back into next season’s CL, while Chelsea face a difficult FA Cup quarter-final at Leicester on Sunday.
The wing-back hinted they have fallen short this term because of a lack of depth in the squad, but insists they showed enough against Barcelona to prove they are worthy of a top-four place.
Alonso said: “At the moment, definitely the FA Cup and top four is what we have to go for. That’s difficult. But it’s what we have left and, at the minute, we can only fight for this and learn from the defeats that we’ve had this season.
“We have to start fighting in these last eight games because I think we deserve to play this competition (the Champions League) again next year.
“It’s difficult, with so many games this year and we have not got the deepest squad.
“But if we play every game like we played against Barcelona, then yes (we would be in the top four), but it’s not the case, so it’s another thing we have to take into consideration.
“We must learn from this defeat and get stronger and improve.” The Blues currently languish outside the top four, behind Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United in a four-way battle for three Champions League places.
Conte felt frustrated that they suffered such a heavy defeat to Barca over the two legs, when they played well in patches, and will raise questions as to why they have underperformed this season.
But Alonso insists Chelsea must take the positives out of their Champions League campaign.
He added: “We showed until the last minute that we can play against any team, and now we have eight finals and have to make sure we play in the Champions League next year.
“We showed great character, played good games, both in the second leg and in the first leg, and maybe the score is too much. But it’s
fair because they put the ball in and we didn’t.” Blues striker Olivier Giroud is also convinced he can play a big part as they try to turn their season around with a strong run-in.
He said: “I feel very good on the pitch and I hope I have the opportunity to help the team reach our targets. We have a good team cohesion and, if we play with this spirit, we hope that good things can happen towards the end of the championship.
“I am very pleased with my understanding with the boys. Not everything is perfect, but I am trying to be the target man that the boss is asking me to be.”
Sergio Busquets is in a race to make Barca’s Champions League quarterfinal after breaking a toe against Chelsea. The defensive midfielder was replaced after an hour and could miss three weeks.
The injury is set to rule him out of the first leg early next month.