Chelsea news: Can Antonio Conte pick the team up from the dumps and beat Barcelona?
GETTY Chelsea boss Antonio Conte won the Premier League last season
Chelsea against Barcelona, the memories of classics past, the possibilities of what lies ahead. The chance for the manager of the English champions to outwit the giants from Spain. Bring on February, bring it on now. Except, this is Antonio Conte, 2017-18. It was not like this last season. Twelve months ago, Chelsea manager Conte was happy, bubbly and all too keen to crack a smile and a joke, even in his broken English. Now the Italian is down in the dumps and he looked like a man who had not slept since Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham. When pressed on his subdued manner, he responded: “I’m not happy because we lost the last game.”
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We have to find the best solution Chelsea boss Antonio Conte
There was clearly more to it than that. A lack of summer signings and his squad’s failure to handle playing two games in a week because of the Champions League have left Conte looking defeated. His demeanour yesterday at Chelsea’s training ground in Cobham did little to suggest that he really believes his side can beat Barcelona in the last-16 knockout stages of the Champions League. In comments that appear to have been directed at Michael Emenalo, who left as the club’s technical director last month, Conte was keen to ensure he was not blamed for the small squad. But his suggestion that a tour of Singapore and China last summer have impacted on his players’ physical levels will surely not please his bosses. Except he does at least have a passionate personality and a desire never to give in despite the problems he finds Chelsea in.
“We have to find the best solution,” said Conte. “We have to find more rotations. I’m doing this, we will try and do our best with hunger and desire. We will fight. But we have to give 120 per cent.” Not surprisingly, Conte was reluctant to talk about the clash with the European giants. Instead priority is on Huddersfield away tonight in a tricky Premier League match. But what a prospect lies ahead, with Chelsea knowing what the outcome was the last time the sides met in the competition in the semi-final in 2012. Chelsea won the home leg 1-0 but found themselves 2-0 down in the Nou Camp and with only 10 men after John Terry was sent off. But then goals from Ramires and a memorable last-minute strike from Fernando Torres sent Chelsea through...and they went on to lift the trophy. At this stage of the competition seven years earlier, then manager Jose Mourinho was described as “an enemy of football” by a senior UEFA official for accusing ref Anders Fisk to be influenced by opposite number Frank Rijkaard as Chelsea lost 2-1 away in the first leg. But they then won a sensational return 4-2 to go through, a game memorable for Ronaldinho’s amazing goal while standing still.
Conte said: “Our reaction must be positive. As I know very well you must be ready to face everything and in this case you must be ready to face Barcelona. “The past is the past. Now is the present and it is another story. It is totally different. “We need to go into the league and try and have a good result. We have to do this and we must be ready and in February we will see what happens. “Our priority must be the (Premier) league and fight for a Champions League place. That must be our priority and when it will be the moment and play Barcelona then we will think about that game. We have to be very realistic that this Premier League is very dangerous.”