Chelsea
boss Antonio Conte has claimed that his team will “have to be at 120%”
in order to stand a chance of overcoming Barcelona in the last-16 stage
of the Champions League.
The Blues were paired with the Spanish
giants in Monday’s draw, with the first fixture to take place at
Stamford Bridge on February 20.
Conte was keen to stress that his
immediate focus was on the Premier League, but the Italian conceded that
his team had been handed a very difficult draw against the La Liga
leaders.
“We must be ready to play at home.
Impossible to see an advantage of playing at home first. Against Barca
you have to be at 120%,” Conte told reporters.
“Our priority is the league and to stay
up and fight for the Champions League place – at this moment. When it is
the moment to play Barcelona then we will start thinking about it.”
Chelsea will look to bounce back from
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at West Ham United in the Premier League when they
visit Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, the Catalan club were quick to take to Twitter (today) to make fun of Chelsea over a previous win at Stamford Bridge.
The La Liga side posted: ‘We’ve had some great times at Stamford Bridge, haven’t we Iniesta’.
The tongue-in-cheek comment makes
reference to their 2008-09 semi-final clash where Andres Iniesta struck
late-on to send Barcelona through.
But Conte insists what has gone before will have no impact on the tie, calling on his players to write their own history.
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