CONTE CALLS FOR PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURE RETHINK

LONDON: English teams are not being given enough time to recover from Champions League games and the English Premier League should review the way the fixture schedule is drawn up, said Chelsea manager Antonio Conte.

After their Champions League match against Qarabag in Azerbaijan yesterday, they are then scheduled to face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.

Conte suggested the congested schedule is one of the reasons English sides have failed to reach the Champions League final in recent years. Chelsea were the last English club to reach the final when they beat Bayern Munich in the 2011-12 season.

“It will be very difficult for us to recover,” Conte told reporters on Tuesday.

“Whoever prepared the fixtures for the league must pay great attention.

“I’d like to underline I’m talking for all the teams who are playing in the Champions League, not just for Chelsea. At this moment, England needs to try to understand this problem and change something.”

Conte said Chelsea were in the same situation in September when they travelled to Atletico Madrid on Sept 27 and hosted Manchester City three days later.

“For a lot of time, there hasn’t been an English team playing a final in the Champions League. Why is this? The teams are very strong, and every team have the possibility to go through to the Champions League final,” he added.

Chelsea are nine points behind league leaders Manchester City and a point behind second-placed United. — Reuters