Chelsea’s defeat to Barcelona last night was certainly not a great night for Antonio Conte, but that hasn’t stopped him attracting the attention of Real Madrid.
According to Don Balon, Los Blancos president Florentino Perez took notice of the game and is impressed enough by what he saw from Conte and his side.
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Although the scoreline ended up being somewhat one-sided as Barcelona won 3-0 at the Nou Camp, Conte’s side gave a decent account of themselves over both legs.
Chelsea started particularly strongly in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, with Willian opening the scoring that night before a mistake allowed Lionel Messi to equalise.
Had that away goal not changed the complexion of the tie, Barcelona might not have been able to hit Chelsea on the break as they did on occasions last night, with the Blues forced to look for an away goal themselves.
Zinedine Zidane’s future at Real Madrid looks in some doubt after a poor domestic season, though it remains to be seen if another strong European campaign could save the Frenchman his job.
For now, however, Conte seems to be emerging as a candidate for Real Madrid as Perez keeps an eye out for potential Zidane replacements.