UCL 2022-23: 'I know the difficulty to play in San Siro's atmosphere' - Conte after Tottenham's loss to Milan
By Ayush Gupta | First Published Feb 15, 2023, 1:18 PM ISTUCL 2022-23: Tottenham Hotspur succumbed to a 1-0 beating to AC Milan in the pre-quarters opening leg on Tuesday. While he admitted that San Siro's atmosphere made it difficult for his boys, he warned to turn things around in London.
English giants Tottenham Hotspur travelled to take on Italian giants AC Milan in the opening leg of the pre-quarters of the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League (UCL) on Tuesday. It was familiar territory for Spurs head coach Antonio Conte at San Siro, having led city rival Inter Milan to Serie A glory a few seasons back.
However, things did not go well for the Italian as a visiting boss, as Tottenham succumbed to a 0-1 upset, with Brahim Diaz's seventh-minute header enough to give the Rossoneri the advantage before the return leg. While Conte admitted that the atmosphere at the venue was not ideal for his boys, he vowed to turn things around in London.
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Talking to BT Sport after the loss, Conte noted, "You have to play two games. It was a fantastic atmosphere. I know San Siro and the difficulty of playing in this atmosphere. In the second game, we have to play in our stadium, and all the fans will surely create the right atmosphere to push us to overcome the Milan obstacle."
Conte dissected Spurs' performance: "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. I think that by conceding the first goal, we can do much better. We conceded a goal after maybe only five minutes. Then we tried to lead the game and 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."
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Conte also heaped praise on Pape Sarr and Oliver Skipp's partnership in the central midfield by stating, "I'm delighted for both players. They played an excellent game and showed our trust 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 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."
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