Antonio Conte has admitted that it will be a great feeling to return to Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening but insisted that he has nothing to prove to Chelsea following his success at the West London club.
Conte’s Tottenham will take on Chelsea over two legs for a place in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
The first leg which takes place tomorrow will be the first time that the Italian has returned to Stamford Bridge since his time as Chelsea boss came to an end in 2018.
The 52-year-old guided the Blues to the Premier League title and the FA Cup in his two-year stint at the club and he admitted that he will always be thankful to the club for giving him an opportunity to manage in the Premier League.
Ahead of the first leg of the semifinal, Conte told Football.London: “For me, for sure it’ll be great to come back to Stamford Bridge. It’s the first time after I left Chelsea as manager to come back to Stamford Bridge.
“I spent two amazing seasons, I created a lot of friendships at the club, we did a really important, good job and I enjoyed working there.
“Also because I have to thank Chelsea because they gave me the possibility to work in England and have my first experiences in England.
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“Now, for sure, I’m the manager of Tottenham and I want to give this club 100 per cent and more to try to improve the team. It’ll be good and for sure I’ll have emotion to come back to Stamford Bridge.”
Conte insisted that he still maintains a good relationship with the people he worked with at Chelsea and was adamant that he has nothing to prove to his former employers.
The Tottenham boss added: “But as I said before, I spent two seasons where I created a good relationship with players, staff, people who work at Chelsea.
“We did a really good job and I think in my position I mustn’t prove anything to anyone. I’m a manager that has experience and continues to have experience in my career and do important jobs at other teams.
“It’ll be a pleasure for me to come back to Stamford Bridge because I spent two important seasons with Chelsea and left a lot of good relationships with the players who continue to play for Chelsea. It’ll be good for me to see them.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Conte certainly has nothing to prove to anyone at Chelsea, considering he beat out Pochettino’s Spurs in their prime and Guardiola’s City to the title during his first season in West London. However, the Italian can certainly expect to be greeted with boos by the Stamford Bridge crowd now that he is in charge of Spurs.
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