Try as he might, Antonio Conte cannot hide his disappointment that it will be at least another year before Chelsea get to face Real Madrid again.

The two clubs played each other in the annual pre-season tournament, the International Champions Cup, on Saturday in front of 105,826 excited spectators at Michigan Stadium.

But it is the serious business of the Champions League where Conte wants to test his players against the Spanish giants and current holders of the European Cup, not in some glorified friendly.

Of course, the 46-year-old Italian knew when he accepted Chelsea’s offer of a three-year contract in April that the Blues had failed to qualify for the competition via a top-four finish. This will be the first season since 1996-7 that Chelsea are not involved in any European competition at all.

However, Conte would not have taken the post if he did not see a way of turning a negative into a positive.

Not only does he like the look of Chelsea’s squad, he can also appreciate the sizeable gaps in the fixture calendar where Champions League fixtures would have been played.

As he explained in an exclusive interview with Standard Sport: “Not playing in the Champions League could be an opportunity because I will be able to work more with my players.

“If you ask me if I prefer this situation, I don’t because Chelsea must be in this competition. You do feel like you’re missing something when you’re not involved in the Champions League. It is a special competition and you want to play in it every year.

“But because we are not, I will have a whole week to train with my players and that gives me a chance to work with them more compared to Chelsea managers in previous seasons.”

Conte knows better than most what a significant help that can be and draws parallels with Chelsea’s current predicament to when he arrived at Juventus in 2011. Back then the Serie A side were also in disarray after failing to qualify for Europe but they were able to use it to their benefit.

He said: “Chelsea aren’t involved [in the Champions League] this season but these things can happen to big teams. In my first season in charge of Juventus, they were in the same position. I took over after they had finished seventh the season before. Obviously we didn’t play in the Champions League or the Europa League and our energy was only focused on the championship.

“We were able to take advantage of that and we won the title. I hope to do the same with Chelsea. This season can be an opportunity for the players to work even more than last season.”

Conte is fully aware, though, that with so many quality teams in the Premier League, recreating his Juventus heroics at Chelsea — by becoming champions at the first attempt — will still be no easy task. Not only that but the division is blessed with a number of top managers, including Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino, Claudio Ranieri and Jurgen Klopp.

With so much coaching and playing talent in the Premier League, Conte believes cementing a Champions League place should be regarded as a noteworthy achievement.

“It is going to be some battle to finish in the top four next season between all the managers and some will lose out,” he said. “The players know this, too.

"Not being involved in the Champions League could be an opportunity as I can work more with the players" Antonio Conte

“This club must play in the competition because for a club like Chelsea, the Champions League is their home. It’s important to get back into it.

“This won’t be easy because in England there are seven or eight teams who are very tough and are ready to fight for the title. But that means they are also all fighting for the top four.

“Yet we are Chelsea. We have a great team and we must find our way back quickly to compete for the title or at least a top-four place. We are working very hard to prepare and we want to try to cancel the bad season of last year.”

"We have a great team and we must find our way back quickly to compete for the title or at least the top four" Antonio Conte

There is still the matter of playing another European giant, AC Milan, on Wednesday night here in Minneapolis — and then Werder Bremen in Germany on August 7 — before Conte can begin trying to banish the memory of last season.

The 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, exposed a gap in quality, so much so that perhaps it might do Conte good to have a full year to impose his methods on the players before facing the continent’s elite again.

Training has been intense since he arrived a few weeks ago. The switch to a 4-2-4 has also provided a stern challenge for the players. But having enjoyed a playing career lasting nearly 20 years, Conte believes he is well-equipped to make such demands on his men.

“I have taken a lot from my experience as a footballer and this is important,” he said. “I lived this for many years in a great team, Juventus, where I was the captain.

“Then you understand. It is important to have lived through this situation as a footballer. Many times when I speak to the player I know before what they are thinking.

“It’s very important to know when to push, when to put on a more relaxed training session, when to deliver rotation. When to put the pressure on and when to take it off.”