Chelsea manager Antonio Conte lists his worries ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League clash on Wednesday
Conte admits Chelsea have no quality to cause an upset against Barcelona.
Antonio Conte admits Barcelona Champions League clash on Wednesday, March 14, will be a tough task for Chelsea.
Both sides played 1-1 draw at the Stamford Bridge in the reverse fixture with Willian and Lionel Messi scoring in that game.
Meanwhile, Barca are likely to line-up without Andres Iniesta due to injury concerns.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has admitted that his side’s Champions League clash against FC Barcelona on Wednesday, March 14, will be tough.
Both sides played 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the Stamford Bridge in February, and they will head into this fixture on the back of their 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
Messi-less Barca on the other hand also cruised to a 2-0 win in their Spanish League encounter against Malaga last weekend to maintain their eight-point lead on the log.
Having played a score draw in the first leg last month, the Blues will have a chance to progress to the quarterfinals of the competition with an unreplied goal or play a 2-2 draw.
Making reference to Juventus beating Tottenham Hotspur at the Wembley Stadium last week following the 2-2 draw they played in Italy in the second month, Conte says the Old Lady have a team with Champions League experience.
He added that: “Don’t forget you are talking about a team with many players with great experience. Many players who won the Champions League in the Juventus team. We don’t have that.
“We don’t have that experience and you have to build the experience over years. For sure, Juventus showed great resilience, they suffered a lot and in the right moment they killed Tottenham.
“Experience is always important. When you play a game in the league, when you play in the Champions League, FA Cup, in every game experience is very important.
“We have many players who need experience — Andreas Christensen, Tiemoue Bakayoko, we have a lot of players playing for the first time or the second time in the Champions League.
“We have to work as a team and to try to be ready. At any moment we have to know we have the chance to go and score.”
Alvaro Morata, 25, will be available for the trip but Conte was unhappy his striker picked up a booking for dissent against Crystal Palace — his tenth in all competitions this campaign.
“This is a situation we can improve with Alvaro. He knows very well if there is a mistake. In this case I think he could have avoided the yellow card.”
Both sides have met 13 times and according to stats, Chelsea have recorded four wins and five of those games had ended in draws, including their last game at the Bridge.
The Catalans will probably not have their captain, Andres Iniesta for the game owing to an injury he picked up while on duty for the Camp Nou side.
Antonio Conte admits Barcelona Champions League clash on Wednesday, March 14, will be a tough task for Chelsea.
Both sides played 1-1 draw at the Stamford Bridge in the reverse fixture with Willian and Lionel Messi scoring in that game.
Meanwhile, Barca are likely to line-up without Andres Iniesta due to injury concerns.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has admitted that his side’s Champions League clash against FC Barcelona on Wednesday, March 14, will be tough.
Both sides played 1-1 in the reverse fixture at the Stamford Bridge in February, and they will head into this fixture on the back of their 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday evening.
Messi-less Barca on the other hand also cruised to a 2-0 win in their Spanish League encounter against Malaga last weekend to maintain their eight-point lead on the log.
Having played a score draw in the first leg last month, the Blues will have a chance to progress to the quarterfinals of the competition with an unreplied goal or play a 2-2 draw.
Making reference to Juventus beating Tottenham Hotspur at the Wembley Stadium last week following the 2-2 draw they played in Italy in the second month, Conte says the Old Lady have a team with Champions League experience.
He added that: “Don’t forget you are talking about a team with many players with great experience. Many players who won the Champions League in the Juventus team. We don’t have that.
“We don’t have that experience and you have to build the experience over years. For sure, Juventus showed great resilience, they suffered a lot and in the right moment they killed Tottenham.
“Experience is always important. When you play a game in the league, when you play in the Champions League, FA Cup, in every game experience is very important.
“We have many players who need experience — Andreas Christensen, Tiemoue Bakayoko, we have a lot of players playing for the first time or the second time in the Champions League.
“We have to work as a team and to try to be ready. At any moment we have to know we have the chance to go and score.”
Alvaro Morata, 25, will be available for the trip but Conte was unhappy his striker picked up a booking for dissent against Crystal Palace — his tenth in all competitions this campaign.
“This is a situation we can improve with Alvaro. He knows very well if there is a mistake. In this case I think he could have avoided the yellow card.”
Both sides have met 13 times and according to stats, Chelsea have recorded four wins and five of those games had ended in draws, including their last game at the Bridge.
The Catalans will probably not have their captain, Andres Iniesta for the game owing to an injury he picked up while on duty for the Camp Nou side.
Comments
Post a Comment