Extra day of rest for Liverpool is ‘not right’

ANTONIO CONTE spent last night’s five-and-a-half-hour journey back to London planning for Saturday’s crunch clash against Liverpool. Chelsea booked their place in the Champions League knockout stages with victory in Baku but the Italian manager did not allow himself any downtime ahead of the trip to Anfield. Conte (below) is furious his side have 24 hours less to prepare than Liverpool, who played in Seville on Tuesday night. Chelsea were scheduled to touch down at Gatwick at around 5am before reporting for a short session at the club’s Cobham training facility. Conte will have his players in as normal tomorrow morning — the only session he will have to prepare his team fully for the showdown with Jurgen Klopp’s side. ‘To have only one day to rest and prepare for this big game is not simple, not easy. I think also it’s not right,’ said Conte. ‘I don’t want to make excuses, but this is the reality. ‘This group is showing great character. From the start, we faced a lot of problems this season. But, despite this, I think our answer was almost always positive. Every day, this group shows great desire, great fight.’ Securing their place in the knockout stages with one match remaining means Conte can rotate his options against Atletico next month. He added: ‘To avoid Atletico’s game becoming decisive for us is very important. It will be a good chance to have

another rotation.’