Conte wants perfection against Barca
LONDON — Chelsea must play the “perfect game” to beat a formidable Barcelona in tonight’s first leg of the Champions League soccer last-16 tie, the manager of the English Premier League club, Antonio Conte, has said.
The English Premier League champions have recovered from a poor run of form, winning consecutive matches over West Bromwich Albion in the league and Hull City in the FA Cup, but Conte is not getting carried away.
“On one hand you know this team is one of the best in the world — maybe they are favourites to win this competition,” Conte told British media.
“On the other hand we must be excited because we have a great opportunity to play a massive game against a really strong team and to show which is our level.
“We have to try to have the perfect game, the perfect game to try to make the best decisions. For this type of team . . . they have fantastic characteristics with the ball. But they can have weaknesses without the ball and we have to try and exploit this.”
Barcelona’s star forward Lionel Messi has never scored in eight matches against Chelsea and Conte is eager for his team to maintain that record.
Chelsea last defeated the Spanish side in 2012 as the London outfit marched to their first Champions League title, and midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who moved to Stamford Bridge from Barcelona in 2014, is confident that Conte’s side can repeat the feat.
“They try to put the first pressure very, very high — (they) always work towards the ball,” Fabregas said.
“If we can (get) past this first phase of their pressure, then we have the content to do that, and not put ourselves under too much pressure, then I think we can hurt them because they will leave a lot of spaces at the back.
“Hopefully we can give a good image of what we can do and do a good performance.”
In fact Barcelona’s visit to Chelsea tonight gives Conte the perfect opportunity to reaffirm his stature as one of Europe’s greatest coaches.
Conte also considers himself one of the best coaches in the world, referring to himself despite a recent 4-1 drubbing at Watford as “a winner”. He does so with some justification. In a glittering coaching career, Conte made Juventus title winners again with three consecutive Serie A titles after a five-year drought.
He also surpassed expectations by leading an Italy side short on star names to the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, and delivered the Premier League in his debut season at Chelsea.
However, a second season slump at the Bridge and his fractious relationship with the club’s hierarchy means most believe the Italian won’t last at Chelsea beyond the end of the season at the latest.
Whether it is to convince Roman Abramovich and close aid Marina Granovskaia he should remain in charge next season or to attract the attention of Europe’s other giants who may be looking for a coach come the summer, Conte needs Champions League nights to remember.
His two years in the competition at Juventus ended in a 4-0 quarter-final aggregate thrashing from Bayern Munich and an embarrassing group stage exit behind Galatasaray.
Conte complained then it was impossible for Italian sides to compete at the latter stages of the Champions League.
It didn’t help his case then that his successor Massimiliano Allegri then led Juve to two Champions League finals in three seasons.