Today, Antonio Conte’s Chelsea welcomes a Barcelona side who is seven points clear at the top of La Ligain an intriguing first leg of the Champions League Round of 16.
Chelsea match against Barcelona had taken on something of a mythical status in recent times, as football battles go but on paper, Barcelona are the overwhelming favourites even despite the fact they do not have home advantage for this encounter.
Conte’s side had won just four of their previous 12 matches in all competitions while La Liga leaders Barca have only lost once all season.
However, Chelsea had fared well in recent meetings with Barcelona.
The Premier League side was unbeaten in their last seven Champions League games against Barcelona. They also beat them in the semi-finals in 2012 on their way to winning the trophy.
“To play against Barcelona is a great challenge for us,” said head coach Antonio Conte. “This type of game must give us great enthusiasm. We must be excited to play, especially against this team.
“I consider Barcelona one of the best teams in the world. You have to try and compete with them at this level. It won’t be easy, for sure, but we must have the right confidence and then we’ll see what happens.”
Chelsea and Barcelona are facing each other for the 13th time in the Champions League, the fifth-most played fixture in the competition. They hadn’t played each other since April 2012 – Chelsea won 3-2 on aggregate.
Barcelona had won only one of their six away games against Chelsea in the Champions League (D1 L4), it was in February 2006 (2-1). They have also never kept a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea will attempt to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14. However, they are winless in their last six knockout games (D3 L3).
|Sun
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