Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says his side’s performance in the 1-1 draw against Barcelona was close to perfection.
The Blues survived a difficult opening period and slowly grew in confidence, ending the first half the stronger side.
Willian twice hit the post and then put Chelsea ahead after the interval, only for Lionel Messi to equalise after a mistake by Andreas Christensen.
“We were very close to playing the perfect game,” Conte said.
“We made one mistake but we know very well when you make a mistake against opponents and players like Messi, Suarez and Iniesta you pay.
“My players gave a great effort and followed the plan. It is a pity. We are disappointed with the final result. We had two shots that hit the post from Willian.
“But this game must give us a lot of confidence to trust in the second leg.
“Qualifications is open it will not be easy because we are talking about Barcelona and they are a fantastic team.
“If we are ready to work well defensively but continue to have the feeling to create chances to score so can do something incredible at the Nou Camp.”
This post was last modified on 20/02/2018