Barca’s Chelsea visit could boost Conte

The Blues’ coach needs some good news for his bosses

BARCELONA’S visit to Chelsea today gives Antonio Conte the perfect opportunity to reaffirm his stature as one of Europe’s greatest coaches. “To play against Barcelona is a great challenge for us,” Conte said after easing the pressure on his job with back-to-back home wins over West Brom and Hull in the past week.

“We must be excited to play this type of game, especially against this team. I consider Barcelona one of the best teams in the world.”

Conte also considers himself one of the best coaches in the world, calling himself – despite a recent 4-1 drubbing at Watford – “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 quarterfinals of Euro 2016, and delivered the Premier League in his debut season at Chelsea.

However, a second-season slump at Stamford Bridge and his fractious relationship with the club’s hierarchy means most believe the Italian will not last at Chelsea beyond the end of the season at the latest.

Whether it is to convince Roman Abramovich and close aide 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 summer, Conte needs Champions League nights to remember.

His two years in the competition at Juventus ended in a 4-0 quarterfinal aggregate thrashing from Bayern Munich and an embarrassing group stage exit behind Galatasaray.

Conte complained then that it was impossible for Italian sides to compete at the latter stages of the Champions League.

It did not help his case then that his successor Massimiliano Allegri then led Juve to two Champions League finals in three seasons.

There have been similarities between Conte’s final days at Juventus and many of his public outbursts against the Chelsea ownership this season over his lack of input over recruitment and how much is spent.

“I think I’m a bit of a disaster to convince the club to buy the players,” Conte said last week.

“I have to speak more with the managers who are very, very good to persuade their clubs to spend money and buy top players.”

Conte may then welcome his meeting with the more soft-spoken Ernesto Valverde this week.

In Valverde’s eight-month spell in charge, Barca have twice smashed their club record transfer fee for Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho.

Valverde has made the best of what he inherited to turn Barca from the depths of a preseason crisis into potential treble winners.

Neymar’s decision to walk out on the club for a world record ß222million (R3.2-billion) to Paris SaintGermain was a huge loss that Valverde has used as an opportunity to reconstruct a more solid side.

Valverde’s calm has restored stability to a club in need of a steady hand after a tumultuous summer.

That may be the lesson Conte and Chelsea can learn from most of all before careering towards another messy divorce at season’s end. – AFP