Conte keen to deny Ibrahimovic again

Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte wants to deny Zlatan Ibrahimovic a league title again, just as he did with Juventus in 2011-12.

Despite an impressive campaign by Ibrahimovic at AC Milan, Conte’s Juve claimed the first of three consecutive league crowns under his guidance.

With the Swedish star now at Manchester United, Conte hopes he can repeat that feat with Chelsea.

“It was fantastic. We started the season as the underdog and the press had us down for sixth or seventh place in the table,” the Italian said.

“Milan had Zlatan, it was the only season when he didn’t win the championship and I hope this season is the same again.”

Ibrahimovic scored a league-high 28 goals in that campaign, but Milan ended up four points adrift of unbeaten Juve.

Conte, whose Chelsea will be looking to rebound from a 10th-place finish in the Premier League last season, recalled how Juve were written off ahead of the campaign.

“Inter had won the treble in the season before under [Jose] Mourinho and Napoli had Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik,” he said.

“In that period we were the underdogs and we won our first title unbeaten – and the cup.”