Antonio Conte tells Chelsea stars to be positive about horror Barcelona draw in Champions League
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Antonio Conte has told his Chelsea stars to be positive about their horror Champions League draw.
The Blues have been pitted against five-time European champions Barcelona in the last-16 of the competition.
After finishing second in their group, Chelsea knew they had a two-in-three chance of facing either Barca or French juggernauts Paris Saint-Germain.
"It's a draw. Our reaction must be positive," Conte said at his press conference on Monday ahead of Tuesday's Premier League clash at Huddersfield.
"When you are in this stage you must be ready to face every team. In this case we must be ready to face Barcelona.
(Image: Chelsea FC)
(Image: Chelsea FC)
"When you play against Barcelona you must put 120 per cent at home and away if you want to hope to go to the next round."
The first leg takes place at Stamford Bridge on February 20 - and is scheduled to be followed by Premier League matches at Manchester United (February 24) and Manchester City (March 3) - with the second leg at the Nou Camp on March 14.
And Conte's immediate focus is on the Premier League after last Saturday's loss at West Ham saw the Blues slip 14 points behind City as the Italian dismissed past battles with Barca.
(Image: AFP)
(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty)
But he will hope to invoke the memory of their remarkable win over the Catalan giants in 2012, when goals from Ramires and Fernando Torres saw them reach the Champions League final on away goals despite the earlier dismissal of John Terry.
"The past is the past. Now it's the present, another story. It's totally different," he said.
(Image: Chelsea FC)
Tottenham were also handed a questionable reward for finishing ahead of Real Madrid in their qualifying group as they were paired with last year's runners-up Juventus.
But Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool will be relatively content after being paired with Basel, Sevilla and Porto respectively.
(Image: Chelsea FC)
The remaining three ties pit Real Madrid against Paris St Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk with Roma, and Bayern Munich against Besiktas.
Spurs can expect to face a sterner test than that posed by Juventus in their last meeting in a pre-season friendly at Wembley in August, which the north Londoners won 2-0.
City will be delighted to land Swiss outsiders Basel. But they will have good cause to be wary against their experienced opposition, who beat both United and Benfica on their way to qualifying as runners-up from Group A.