Antonio Conte already looking forward to Chelsea's title celebrations with the Premier League finish line in sight
Conte was dunked in a bath when he won Serie A with Juventus and said he is not worried by being soaked by his Chelsea players, providing they beat West Brom on Friday night
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Your support makes all the difference.Antonio Conte hopes that his Chelsea players can soak him with water if they tie up the Premier League title at West Bromwich Albion on Friday night.
Chelsea are just three points from the title, which would be a remarkable achievement in Conte’s first season in English football. At the end of his first season at Juventus, 2011-12, he won Serie A and was promptly thrown in the bath by his players. Even the stylish Conte would not mind too much if the same thing happens tomorrow night.
“Am I worried? No, I hope they do,” Conte said at his press conference this afternoon when asked about the possibility of getting dunked at the Hawthorns.
“I think that, after one year, one season, when you work a lot and you suffer a lot, enjoying but also suffering, if you are able to win and to reach your target then I think the moment of celebration must be fantastic.”
Not that Conte wants to spend too much time thinking about how he will celebrate the Premier League title quite yet. If Chelsea lose tomorrow then they could let Tottenham Hotspur back into the title race in its final week.
“Now is not right to think about this because we have to take three points,” Conte said. “After this, yes, I'm sure my players want to celebrate in the right way. I accept this.”
There is a view that it would be better for Chelsea to win the title at Stamford Bridge, in front of their own fans, as they did in 2014-15, but Conte said that he would rather get the title won as quickly as possible. Even if they do it at West Bromwich Albion in front of a few thousand travelling Chelsea fans rather than at home.
“I'd prefer to win it as soon as possible,” Conte said. “It's not important where you win it. It's important to win. Then you have the time to celebrate the win where you want. This is important. For this reason, we must go game by game.
“Tomorrow's game is the most important game for us, a final, and we are always thinking in this way. We have been for a long time. We must continue to think in this way and try and take three points tomorrow, but it won't be easy.”
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