Antonio Conte Blames Champions League Struggles on Premier League Scheduling

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has suggested the Premier League's fixture scheduling is to blame for the struggles of English sides in the UEFA Champions League in recent years.Conte spoke ahead of the Blues' 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag on Wednesday, which comes before they face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, with the Italian keeping his players operating on UK time to negate the four-hour time difference.According to the Daily Star's David Woods, Conte said he was speaking not only for Chelsea, but all of the Premier League's representatives in the competition. He said:"England needs to try to understand this [issue] and change something. For a lot of time, there isn't an English team playing a final in the Champions League. Why is this'"The teams are very strong, and every team has the possibility to go through to the path to the Champions League [final]."We are doing our job. I think we want also a bit of respect for our job.I'm a bit surprised because, this season, it's the second time that's happened."The first time it was the same against Manchester City. We played on Wednesday away at Atletico Madrid and came back to London at 5 a.m. and then we played City on the Saturday, who had played a day earlier in the Champions League."Conte, whose side had to set off from London on Monday, further noted that upcoming opponents Liverpool played Sevilla on Tuesday and added "whoever prepared the fixtures for the league must pay great attention."The Blues were the last English team to win the Champions League having done so back in 2012, but as The Independent's Miguel Delaney noted last season, Premier League sides have largely struggled in recent years:This season has been successful for English sides in the Champions League, with Chelsea's defeat to Roma the only loss any of the five representatives have suffered.City and Tottenham Hotspur have won their groups, while the Blues, Liverpool and Manchester United are all on course to go through as things stand, though it will all mean relatively little if they fail to carry that momentum into the knockout stage.While multiple factors have contributed to the struggles encountered by English sides in recent years, Conte has a pointmore could indeed be done from the Premier League to give its sides a helping hand.Juventus and Barcelona, who play one another on Wednesday, will both have until Sunday to recover before resuming their domestic duties, and the pair often play the Saturday before European games and on the Sunday after to give them more time to recover in between.Last season, the Bianconeri and a number of other sides including Porto and Lyon would even occasionally play on a Friday prior to a European clash the following week.Chelsea's situation with Qarabag is particularly difficult because of the distances involved, which will make it a far more gruelling trip than it would be to play a side in central Europe, but if the Premier League has any interest in its sides prospering in the Champions League, it would do well to examine the part it can play in that.
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