Conte, Hazard have no fear for knockout stage
Antonio Conte and Eden Hazard insist Chelsea fear no one – with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain possible opponents in the Champions League knockout stage.
Last night’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid saw the Spaniards eliminated and the Blues finish as Group C runners-up to Roma on head to head records.
Finishing second means, as it stands, Chelsea could on Monday be drawn to face Lionel Messi’s Barca, Neymar’s PSG or Turkish side Besiktas in the last-16.
They cannot face another English club and Manchester City, United and Tottenham have won their groups, while Liverpool lead theirs.
Conte said: “This is a fantastic competition, this is the best tournament. If you want to go through, if you want to try to be protagonists in this tournament, you must be ready to face the best teams. “Our opponent won’t be happy to play against us.” Hazard added: “It’s not a problem. We are Chelsea. We can face any team. “We know PSG and Barcelona, they are very good. But we are Chelsea and we have to be ready for everything. We can do everything.” The Blues were already through but needed a win to secure top spot.
Saul Niguez’s header gave Atletico the lead. Chelsea had chances, with Jan Oblak frustrating Alvaro Morata and Andreas Christensen heading wide before Hazard’s run forced Stefan Savic to turn the ball into his own net.
Substitute Willian might have won it, but Chelsea had to settle for a draw.
“We deserved to win the game,” Conte added.
“When you create so many chances to score, but important chances, not simple chances, you have to try to take them. We could be more accurate.”
Atletico boss Diego Simeone, who reached at least the quarter-finals in the last four seasons, said: “I wouldn’t say it’s a failure, because we knew this could happen.
“We have no excuses. The responsibility is ours. We managed to get more points off the team which finished top than the team who finished bottom. It’s difficult to explain.”