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December 10, 2019

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Home » Sports » Soccer

Messi out but Conte still downbeat

Source: AFP | 00:18 UTC+8 December 10, 2019 | Print Edition

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi will not make the trip to the San Siro for today’s 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’Or 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’s 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.

“We’re talking about Barcelona, one of the strongest teams in the world with a very strong squad of 20 to 22 players,” said Conte.

“Barcelona remains one of the four or five teams that every year sets out to win the competition.

“For 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.”

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.

“In Barcelona we played a very good game with great courage and personality, but the defeat came thanks to their great players.

“It’s been a while, we’ve grown in some respects.

“If we think we won’t suffer when Barcelona is in possession, we would be fools. When we get the possession, we will try to put them in difficulty.”

The former Chelsea and Juventus coach hopes a capacity San Siro crowd can pull the three-time former European champion through. “Our 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.”

Meanwhile, Frank Lampard has challenged his young Chelsea players to “make a mark” 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’s recent poor form — just one win in five games — was his first big challenge as Blues boss, and wants his players to embrace the pressure of this week’s must-win clash.

“It is a test for us and it was always going to come,” Lampard said during his pre-match press conference yesterday.

“The 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.

“Big games like this, they are crucial for the players. You can be defined as an individual and a group by success.”

Lampard, who won the UCL with Chelsea in 2012, said he had been fortunate to have enjoyed many big nights as a player.

“So these are big opportunities now for the team, particularly the young boys when it’s quite new to them, to make a mark,” he said. “So I think it’s good, I like the pressure of this game being knockout.

“If we’re going to do anything good here, we’re going to have to have lots of these nights.”

Lampard said his side’s poor run had not yet altered his view on January recruitment plans after the club’s FIFA transfer ban had been lifted.

“I wouldn’t say my mind is set on anything to be changed,” said Lampard, whose side is fourth in the EPL despite its wobble.

“But 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.

“That was the disappointing thing at Everton. It wasn’t just that we were slightly off — I didn’t like that there were individual contact moments across the game that we lost. Because that’s a personality thing as much as anything else.”

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’ defense.

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