Chelsea boss Antonio Conte hailed his team for outplaying Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid in a stunning last-gasp comeback victory — and then launched into a rant about scheduling.
Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi scored as Chelsea became the first English side to win away at Atletico in the Champions League.
A delighted Conte said: ‘You can win, but if you only defend and counter-attack, the result doesn’t bring the right satisfaction. Instead, we came here and showed that we are ready to play.’
Conte then criticised English football’s decision-makers for scheduling their clash with Manchester City on Saturday.
After spending today recovering, that leaves Chelsea just one day to prepare.
‘Don’t forget, Manchester City played (on Tuesday) at home,’ said Conte. ‘To have only one day to prepare for this type of game is not right. I’m very surprised to see that we have to play on Saturday, not on Sunday. I don’t understand why.’
Conte says the international break which follows the City contest means it was less necessary for the game to be played on Saturday.
‘There is the international break. It’s very difficult to understand,’ Conte added.
The Italian insisted Chelsea would be ready, but he may delay selecting his team until Saturday afternoon.
‘Maybe I’ll wait until one hour, two hours before playing,’ Conte added.
‘This type of game (against Atletico) you use a lot of physical and mental energy. I want to speak with everyone and then to make the best decision.
‘(But) to play a big game is better because we can keep the concentration very high.’
Alvaro Morata and Michy Batshuayi proved there is life after Diego Costa as Chelsea fought back to win in Atletico’s first European game at their new Estadio Wanda Metropolitano home.
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