Tottenham may have lost the first leg to Milan but Conte believes his team can come back and get a result in London
Antonio Conte believes that a 1-0 loss at San Siro isn’t enough of a deficit to keep his team from turning things around on the second leg.
Conte warns Milan of a Spurs comeback
Tottenham lost their first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie against Serie A champions AC Milan at San Siro. As always, San Siro’s atmosphere was vibrant and Antonio Conte expects the same from Spurs fans in the second leg at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
He told BT Sport: “You have to play two games. It was a fantastic atmosphere. I know San Siro, and I know the difficulty to play in this atmosphere.
“For sure in the second game we have to play in our stadium and for sure all the fans will create the right atmosphere to push us to overcome the Milan obstacle.”
“Then we tried to lead the game, we tried to create situations to score, but I think Milan defended very well.”
Tottenham is in an injury crisis, especially in midfield. Bissouma and Bentancur are both sidelined with long-term injuries while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg missed the match against Milan due to suspension. Tottenham were thrashed by Leicester 4-1 before the Milan match-up because of said injuries. Conte had Skipp and Pep Sarr pairing up in the midfield.
“I think it was better today – high intensity, and I think we played against a good team. Don’t forget Milan last season won the league in Italy,” Conte said.
“I think that to concede the first goal, we can do much better. We conceded a goal after maybe only five minutes.
“Then we tried to lead the game, we tried to create situations to score, but I think Milan defended very well. We had chances to score, but at the end we are talking about a defeat, a loss.”
He said of Sarr and Skipp: “I’m really satisfied for both players. They played a really good game and showed the trust that we have in them, they repaid this.
“Don’t forget we now have three midfielders and we have to continue maybe to the end of the season with these three midfielders, and to have this type of performance from Skippy and Pape Sarr makes me more relaxed because I know I can count on them 100 per cent.
“And then we have Pierre Hojbjerg who for us is a key player.”
