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Messi out but Conte still downbeat
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Barcelona鈥檚 Lionel Messi will not make the trip to the San Siro for today鈥檚 final UEFA Champions League group game, but Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte still expects a tough test as his side bids to reach the last 16.
Barcelona is already through to the knockout round after six-time Ballon d鈥橭r winner Messi scored in a convincing 3-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund last time out.
The Argentine has been left out of the 20-man squad along with midfielder Sergi Roberto. Coach Ernesto Valverde鈥檚 side will also be without the injured Ousmane Dembele, Jordi Alba, Nelson Semedo and Gerard Pique.
The Spaniards are assured of finishing top of Group F as they have 11 points from five games.
Inter is second, level on seven points with Borussia Dortmund, which hosts Slavia Prague, but the Italians will qualify if the two clubs finish on the same number of points due to their superior head-to-head goal difference.
鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about Barcelona, one of the strongest teams in the world with a very strong squad of 20 to 22 players,鈥 said Conte.
鈥淏arcelona remains one of the four or five teams that every year sets out to win the competition.
鈥淔or their part, they are calm in first place and will play without pressure and can create problems. We have to give everything knowing that it might not be enough.鈥
Barcelona beat Inter 2-1 at the Camp Nou last time out, but Conte believes his team has grown since then as it sits top of Serie A.
鈥淚n Barcelona we played a very good game with great courage and personality, but the defeat came thanks to their great players.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a while, we鈥檝e grown in some respects.
鈥淚f we think we won鈥檛 suffer when Barcelona is in possession, we would be fools. When we get the possession, we will try to put them in difficulty.鈥
The former Chelsea and Juventus coach hopes a capacity San Siro crowd can pull the three-time former European champion through. 鈥淥ur stadium can give us a lot of positive energy and I am sure it will. We all want to get to the last 16, it would be a prestigious goal.鈥
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard has challenged his young Chelsea players to 鈥渕ake a mark鈥 ahead of their crucial UCL match against Lille today after a series of poor results took the shine off their season.
Chelsea must beat the French side at Stamford Bridge to ensure safe passage to the knockout stage, with manager Lampard expecting far sharper focus than his players showed during the 1-3 weekend defeat to Everton.
He admitted Chelsea鈥檚 recent poor form 鈥 just one win in five games 鈥 was his first big challenge as Blues boss, and wants his players to embrace the pressure of this week鈥檚 must-win clash.
鈥淚t is a test for us and it was always going to come,鈥 Lampard said during his pre-match press conference yesterday.
鈥淭he way we are, the nature of the Premier League, this was never going to be a plain sailing, invincible season from our point of view. Teams need this test.
鈥淏ig games like this, they are crucial for the players. You can be defined as an individual and a group by success.鈥
Lampard, who won the UCL with Chelsea in 2012, said he had been fortunate to have enjoyed many big nights as a player.
鈥淪o these are big opportunities now for the team, particularly the young boys when it鈥檚 quite new to them, to make a mark,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o I think it鈥檚 good, I like the pressure of this game being knockout.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to do anything good here, we鈥檙e going to have to have lots of these nights.鈥
Lampard said his side鈥檚 poor run had not yet altered his view on January recruitment plans after the club鈥檚 FIFA transfer ban had been lifted.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say my mind is set on anything to be changed,鈥 said Lampard, whose side is fourth in the EPL despite its wobble.
鈥淏ut you do learn from your players in tough times, not just in terms of what they do on the pitch but how their personality is.
鈥淭hat was the disappointing thing at Everton. It wasn鈥檛 just that we were slightly off 鈥 I didn鈥檛 like that there were individual contact moments across the game that we lost. Because that鈥檚 a personality thing as much as anything else.鈥
Antonio Rudiger is fit for just his second appearance of the season following groin trouble, with the Germany center-back likely to step into the Blues鈥 defense.
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