Did Antonio come? if not the last Antonio Conte, this definitely seems like the beginning of the end. Conte’s return to the bunker took a single match. Champions League like Tottenham He left the competition with an evening that showed the flaws and failures of his game plan. They paid the price for the meaningless performance in the first hour. they were consumed by Cristian RomeroThey succumbed to ‘s stupidity and their own dullness.
Tottenham’s motto is “to dare is to do”, but Conte has the least daring team. They failed to score, they rarely tried, and they missed a chance to follow in the footsteps of Mauricio Pochettino’s totally brave side who reached the 2019 final. His Champions League record remains absolutely mediocre and his next match in this competition will definitely be with another club.
Former Inter and Juventus coach released Milan and if a club with a story can celebrate that, their wild years may be coming to an end, more appropriately for seven-time winners. They were quarterfinalists for the first time since 2012. The 0-0 draw was a victory for them. While Stefano Pioli’s team didn’t look like one of the big Rossoneri sides, they showed resilience and organization, a brilliance during the break and a composure that Romero lacked.
The red-card World Cup winner wasn’t the only one to face the displeasure of referee Clement Turpin. Conte marked his return to the technical area with a caveat for the opposition. But in the end, more was showing his displeasure with her. There were boos when he replaced Dejan Kulusevski with Davinson Sanchez to make up for Romero’s departure. First, they reflected the image of the security manager.
As is often the case with Tottenham, it was a matter of debate whether it was a game of patience or helplessness, strategy or negativity. The responses felt bad for Conte as Tottenham failed to score in the third game in a row. Neither side was able to shoot on goal for 50 minutes, but the protracted stalemate was a scenario more suited to AC Milan. The Spurs played like they didn’t realize they were starting with a single goal. There was a lack of urgency that was both unsurprising and damning. They played with both a peculiar and typical passivity. Conte’s Spurs rarely start fast and fail to score in the first half in the sixth straight game. Nor, really, did they threaten anyone.
They acted, albeit late, to be undermined, in part when Conte was forced to abandon their favorite line-up, but Romero came out in disgrace. The Argentinean’s recklessness and haste has once again entered the realm of stupidity. He was penalized early for the slightest foul on Rafael Leao. He then flew to Theo Hernandez. The second red card of 2023 was the inevitable result.
Cristian Romero’s outrageous interception resulted in the Spurs being ejected from the game as they fell to ten.
(AFP via Getty Images)
The Spurs could still take the draw into overtime. Harry Kane’s injury-related header was brilliantly clawed by Mike Maignan. Yet the Frenchman, even if he was the best goalkeeper in Serie A, rarely had to be: he was never tested until Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s 64th minute shot up. Milan recently conceded five goals to Sassuolo. There was never any danger of a repeat from the Spurs.
At least Conte was honest with himself. Set back on the triple stone, Son Heung-Min was preferred over Richarlison and Pioli could have predicted the Tottenham team. The Korean was once again ineffective, Kulusevski was very slow whenever he was in a race and with 20 minutes left and signaling a stalemate, Conte had to change and went 4-2-4 at least for a while, calling the Brazilian. 10 minutes.
Still, Milan looked comfortable for a long time. They had points when they penned the Spurs with high pressure. It wasn’t catenaccio. They threatened with cunning planning. Junior Messias hit a wide field goal after a clever free kick routine.
They had the elusiveness, deft touch and sharp turns of San Siro match winner Brahim Diaz. He created the game’s delayed first goal attempt by exchanging passes with Messias, grabbing and being rejected by Fraser Forster. Quick footwork led to Milan’s next move when Forster blocked Olivier Giroud.
Antonio Conte’s tenure at Tottenham seems to be coming to an end
(Getty Images)
And Milan threatened to counterattack, and the pace of Leao and Hernandez gave them take-offs on both flanks. The Spurs resorted to illegal means to stop the Portuguese. With Giroud gone, Pioli brought the Divock Origi, a super-sub, perhaps designed to remind Tottenham of better days.
The Belgian had finished them off in the 2019 final during his Liverpool tenure. Seconds after Maignan rejected Kane, he had a chance to repeat, clearly breaking and hitting the post. He saved Tottenham from a third defeat in eight days. But after Sheffield United and the Wolves, their season, and with it Conte’s reign, was sent into turmoil.