Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde wishes Chelsea had won their Champions League group so they did not have to play them in the round of 16, but claims ‘any time is a bad time’ to face the Premier League title holders.
The two clubs were drawn together after Chelsea finished second behind Roma in Group C and Barcelona players were seen training under the floodlights at Stamford Bridge on Monday night ahead of Tuesday’s first leg.
Speaking in west London before their final session, Valverde admits he would have wished to avoid Chelsea at this early stage of the competition, but insists his players are looking forward to the challenge of playing the English champions.
He told reporters: ‘We wish Chelsea had won their group so we didn’t have to play them right now, but any time is a bad time to face Chelsea.
‘They have been getting better in the last few games and in [Eden] Hazard, [Alvaro] Morata, Pedro and Willian they have a lot of quality up front. We are talking about the current Premier League champions and we look forward to playing them.’
Indeed, Antonio Conte appears to have come through a spell of intense pressure at Chelsea following shock defeats to Bournemouth and Watford and have since sealed victories over West Brom in the Premier League and Hull City in the FA Cup. Valverde believes his Italian counterpart is up there with the best in the world.
‘He is one of the best managers in the world with a great record,’ the former Athletic Bilbao boss said.
‘Not only that he has shown at Chelsea, but previously with Juventus and the Italian national team, you can see the quality of his coaching in his teams.
‘He has the classic Italian methods, very strong defence who can counter at any moment. Chelsea have a very unique style of football, they know their game. The English style of football is a unique, physical style, but they play good football as well.’
The runaway La Liga leaders were getting reacquainted with the famous stadium on Monday, where they have enjoyed significant highs and endured crushing lows since Chelsea emerged as European heavyweights with the help of Roman Abramovich.
In 2005, they found themselves 3-0 down within 19 minutes before going onto lose 5-4 on aggregate in the round of 16 but, conversely, in 2009 they qualified for the Champions League final after Andres Iniesta’s late, late winner.
Either way, Valverde was keen to dismiss how much past games will influence this latest fixture and says his side must instead focus on the task at hand.
He said: ‘Of course previous games do count, but it has little to do with what will happen tomorrow. Some key players have changed since last time, there is a little rivalry there, which might make it more exciting, but for us it is another game in the Champions League.’
Barcelona are favourites going into the tie but their progression to the quarter-finals could rely on Lionel Messi finally breaking his duck against the Blues.
The Argentine has failed to find the back of the net in eight appearances and 655 minutes on the pitch against the Blues, even missing a penalty against them in 2012.
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