Ernesto Valverde Talks About Champions League Draw
By Laieke Abebe
Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde talked about the Champions League draw and how Chelsea will be difficult to play against.
After cruising through the group stage of the Champions League, Barcelona now look ahead to the knockout stages beginning in February. However, the first thing that needed to be done was to determine who Barca would play in the round of 16. In the end, the Blaugrana were drawn against Premier League champions Chelsea. The two-leg tie will begin in February and the first leg will be played at Stamford Bridge. The second leg will be at Camp Nou close to a week after the first leg is played.
Barcelona and Chelsea have battled in the Champions League many times before. However, two memories come to mind when these two powers met. In 2012, Chelsea got a trip to the Champions League final by beating Barca in Camp Nou. However, 2009 was a better memory for Catalonian fans. The Blaugrana managed to get an injury time equalizer from Andres Iniesta to send them to the Champions League final. The rest was history as Barca went on to hoist the trophy.
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2017-18 should provide some constants and some different things. Chelsea are managed by Antonio Conte and the Italian managed to win the Premier League in his first season. However, this season hasn’t been as great but they’re still one of the best teams in England. For Barca, Lionel Messi continues to be the staple of the attack and some of the veteran players like Iniesta and Sergio Busquets are still contributing in many ways.
Ernesto Valverde knows that drawing Chelsea is difficult for the Blaugrana. However, Barca has been on good form to begin the season. It matters that the team is in good form when the time comes for the knockout stage. He talked about why this matchup with Chelsea will take Barca’s best to beat them.
"“It’s a tough draw for us because of the magnitude of the opposition, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy because there were really good teams in the draw. Chelsea are champions of the Premier League but we’re exicted about the tie, even though it will be difficult. It’s a great tie to play in for us, and also for the fans. In that respect, it will be easy to motivate ourselves for the games.”Ernesto Valverde on Chelsea"
Overall, Barcelona have the knockout stage matchup set and now they can think about how to prepare for that in the future. For now, Barca need to focus on league action as their difficult December schedule reaches its climax. A trip to the Bernabeu is looming for Barca and they need to be on their top form for that and other matches going forward. We’ll see if they can keep up the good play.