Antonio Conte prepares Chelsea to 'suffer' vs Barcelona and 'best player in the world' Lionel Messi

Vaishali Bhardwaj20 February 2018

Antonio Conte has labelled Barcelona's Lionel Messi as the "best player in the world" because of his ability to solve any situation on the pitch.

Messi is set to start when Chelsea host Ernesto Valverde's Barcelona side in the Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

The Argentine has been the Catalan giants' talisman for many years now, but has never scored against Chelsea - failing to find the net in 655 minutes across eight games.

But Conte believes Messi will be a big threat for Barcelona on Tuesday night, but has warned his Chelsea side to be wary of the threat of other players such as Luis Suarez.

AFP/Getty Images

"We are talking about the best player in the world," Conte told reporters on Monday.

"Messi has the capacity to solve the situation and create a chance when you are not seeing the chance to score.

"This means that this player, we are talking about a fantastic player.

"We have to pay great attention, but not only to Messi. Suarez is a fantastic striker.

"The other team are very dangerous, so we have to work as a team to try and stop Barcelona: Messi, Suarez, Iniesta... the whole team of Barcelona.

"We have to work very hard. We have to know that, during the game, we must be prepared to suffer.

"But, at the same time, we must have the idea to go and score at any moment."

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