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Is Antonio Conte right to complain about Chelsea's European travel?

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP / Getty

Antonio Conte was freshly shaven when he sat down for Friday's press conference ahead of the weekend bout with Liverpool.

"My daughter told me I was looking older with a beard," the Chelsea manager quipped to the assembled media.

For a man who seems to dress to his mood - his ditching of a suit in favour of a tracksuit earlier in the season garnered attention because it coincided with his complaints over Chelsea's transfer activity - it was a little out of character. Conte claimed to have arrived home at 6 a.m. GMT on Thursday and has been vocal about the travel time incurred by the Blues' longest-ever away trip to Qarabag, which hails from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. A dishevelled look, rather than a newly-pruned chin, would've been more in keeping with a manager who endured a rocky landing at Gatwick Airport.

"It was a lot of wind and we tried to land the first time but it was impossible," Conte complained to the Guardian's Paul MacInnes. "Then the captain tried again and the second time it was positive. As you know in these circumstances you feel a bit afraid, you are a bit scared, but the captain was very good."

Chelsea travelled a total of 4,940 miles to play 90 minutes in Baku's Olympic Stadium. The Champions League pursuit was worthwhile - ending in a 4-0 win against a home side reduced to 10 men after 19 minutes - but will it be detrimental to the Blues' efforts to take a result from Merseyside on Saturday?

(Courtesy: Google Maps)

To combat the lack of preparation for the tie, Conte crammed like a student with a poor attendance record on the five-and-a-half-hour flight home, comprising ways to breach and stymie Liverpool. The Chelsea players were granted rest the day they landed, before the Italian's characteristically intense training sessions and tactical preparation started again on Friday.

The club also tried to conquer the time difference by not changing their watches.

"We are staying on English hours, which is a good thing for the Liverpool match. It's four hours' difference," goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told the Evening Standard's Simon Johnson earlier this week.

"If we didn't, we'd be tired with Liverpool in mind. Does that mean staying up 'til 2-3 a.m? Yes, but for me it's only 11 p.m."

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

It's the kind of preparation and plucky use of resources that comes with being a leading continental club. Chelsea, without a European adventure last term, was able to predominantly select the same XI en route to a Premier League title. Now, to compete on all fronts, Conte must deal with a more congested schedule, and a Wednesday-Saturday turnaround isn't excessive. There should be no complaints.

Besides, is Chelsea really much worse off than Liverpool? While the capital outfit won with relative ease and was able to rest players against a team the European Club Association (ECA) ranks as the continent's 106th best, the Reds endured a demoralising evening in Andalusia.

Liverpool led 3-0 against Sevilla - ranked 8th by the ECA - but contrived to surrender that advantage in the second half. The embarrassment would've lurked in the aircraft cabin throughout the near-1,500-mile trip home, and there can be no more dispiriting way to prepare for a huge domestic clash than that.

Related: Henderson reclaims liability tag as last season's Chelsea heroics fade

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