Conte identifies weakness in Barcelona but warns of Messi threat

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte believes he’s got Barcelona all figured out in time for a Champions League round of 16 first-leg tilt with the Catalan outfit, identifying an area of weakness he can exploit at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Although the Italian tactician revealed to reporters he has identified a flaw in his opponent’s armour, he did admit the Blues will still need to be perfect to beat the Blaugrana.

“We have been analysing this team for a long time; we started one month ago and analysed this team,” Conte said, as quoted by the Evening Standard.

“We are speaking about one of the best teams in the world. We have to try to have the perfect game and to try to make the best decisions also for this type of team.

“This is a different opponent. They have a fantastic characteristic with the ball, but they can have a weakness without the ball and we must try to exploit this.”

Those words might serve to inspire some confidence among Chelsea’s ranks, but many a strategy has been unravelled by the likes of Lionel Messi alone. In that regard, Conte acknowledged the Argentine hasn’t found the back of the net against Chelsea in any of the eight matches the two teams have played over the years – his worst record against any other club.

But Conte isn’t taking Messi’s presence lightly, either.

“I hope that we maintain this tradition (of Messi not scoring against Chelsea) but we are speaking about a fantastic player,” Conte said.

“We must have great respect but at the same time we must be excited to play this type of game and take on this type of challenge.

“It won’t be easy because we know very well this player. We are talking about one of the best players in the world.

“But we for sure will work together, work with the team, but not just to try to stop him: if we focus on just man-marking Messi, it can be very dangerous.”