Premier League is Conte's priority after CL draw

CAIRO – 11 December 2017: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte revealed on Monday that his team is concentrating on finishing the Premier League in the top four positions to qualify to the UEFA Champions League next season.

“Our priority must be the league, to try to stay up and to try to fight for a Champions League place, this must be our priority at the moment,” Conte told press on Monday.

Chelsea was drawn with Barcelona at the UEFA Champions League’s round of 16. The first game is scheduled on February 20 in London, while the second leg will be played on March 14 in Barcelona.

Conte spoke about Barcelona’s game, saying, “the draw is in February. I look at the present. When it is the moment to play Barcelona, we will start to think about that game.”

Chelsea placed third in the league, with 32 points. The team is 14 points behind the leaders, Manchester City.

Conte spoke about his team’s situation in the league, saying, “this league is very dangerous. We are to go game by game, to play with 120 percent of our strength every game. Otherwise, we will have a bad surprise at the end of the season."

Conte led Chelsea to win the Premier League last season in his first season in charge of the club.