Chelsea won this Barcelona warm-up but assessing his side's chances at the Nou Camp on Wednesday, Antonio Conte sounded like a man getting his excuses in early.
The Italian explained that his team cannot expect to do what Juventus did to Tottenham last week because one side has considerable Champions League experience and the other does not.
Inspiring stuff from the head coach. Chelsea will give it a go but this is not what the fans flying to Barcelona want to hear, nor surely a squad who are already expecting an uphill battle.