Antonio Conte says Chelsea’s lack of European experience mean they face an uphill battle to shock Barcelona
Chelsea must score at the Nou Camp or face being knocked out of the Champions League
ANTONIO CONTE admits his Champions League rookies face an uphill battle to pull off a shock against Barcelona.
Chelsea head to the Nou Camp on Wednesday needing to score a goal to stand any chance of going through to the quarter-finals — and it will need every player to be at his best.
Italians Juventus produced a masterclass last week to squeeze out Tottenham.
But Blues boss Conte said: “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.
LAC OF ACTION Chelsea to lose their longest serving player as Matej Delac plans summer exit
“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.”
most read in football
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.
Conte added: “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.”