Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior ready 'to test myself against the best' in crunch UEFA Champions League clash with Antonio Conte's Napoli

The UEFA Champions League's league phase reaches its dramatic conclusion in Wednesday night's grand finale. Chelsea's trip to Napoli is amongst the standout fixtures - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - with The Blues looking to secure a top-eight finish with a win over Antonio Conte, former Chelsea manager. Liam Rosenior spoke to TNT Sports about the prospect of sparring with Conte.

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said he wants "to test myself against the best" as he prepares his side for their UEFA Champions League showdown against Antonio Conte's Napoli.

The Blues are eighth in the league phase standings, on course to secure qualification for the last 16 and avoid the play-offs.

Napoli, meanwhile, are 25th with eight points from their seven games, just outside the play-off spots, as Conte faces his former club.

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Asked if playing against Conte, who guided Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2016/17, adds an "emotional" element to the game, Rosenior told TNT Sports: "I'm wanting to win.

"As a coach, your job is to take the emotion out and focus on the logical side of the game.

"You need emotion, for sure. I don't want us to be too emotional, because I think that will make it a more difficult game.

"You have to have cool heads, be calm, make really good decisions under pressure.

"In terms of Antonio, I'm aware of what a top player he was, first and foremost, and what an amazing manager he's been and what he's accomplished. I've always wanted to test myself against the best and Antonio comes into that category."

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Video credit: TNT Sports

Conte took Napoli to the Serie A title last season, but his side have struggled for form of late, dropping to fourth in their domestic league and losing ground in the Champions League.

I Partenopei have won just one of their last six matches across all competitions, including a 1-1 draw with Copenhagen last time out in the Champions League.

They have also been hit by injuries: Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour, David Neres, Matteo Politano and Vanja Milinkovic-Savic are amongst the absentees.

"We've analysed their last few performances," Rosenior said. "The results they've had haven't mirrored the performances they've given. They've been a lot closer to winning games than what maybe the results have looked like.

"It's not my job to judge injuries of the opposition. What I do know is they're going to have a really strong crowd and manager behind them.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"They know they need to win the game to stay in the competition which makes them even more dangerous, but that means the game may have to open up in the second half and that's something we'll prepare for as well."

On the prospect of playing at the imposing Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Rosenior added: "Walking through the stadium, you can smell the history.

"I remember Diego [Maradona], watching him when I was five years old - what a player he was, the story of what he created at this club.

"There's been a lot of firsts for me in the last few weeks. For this to be the first game away in the Champions League for me is great for me.

"But it's not about me. We have a big game that we know we need to win if we want to make the top eight, and I'm really looking forward to seeing my team respond to the hostile atmosphere we'll face tomorrow.

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"This is the challenge; this is why you become a player or a coach. You want to find what you're made of in atmospheres like this.

"I'm very confident because the first two weeks what the players have shown me is a really good side to their game in many different aspects.

"I'm going to learn a lot about the team and about myself after the game."

How to watch Napoli v Chelsea

Napoli v Chelsea will be live on TNT Sports 4 and discovery+.

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