AFTER rising from his sickbed, Antonio Conte tasted the nastiest medicine of all as Tottenham were dumped out of the Champions League and sentenced to a 15th straight season without silverware.
Conte’s 16-month reign already seemed to be drifting towards its conclusion before his insipid side were knocked out by the Italian champions, on a night when the bitter north London weather matched the mood of every Spurs fan.
AC Milan may be the seven-time champions of Europe and the reigning kings of Serie A – but they are nothing special and, such is the strength of the Premier League, that Conte’s men were expected to beat them.
That they failed to score in either leg was a damning indictment of Conte’s regime, under which Spurs have failed to thrill and struggled for identity.
Long before the late sending-off of Cristian Romero for two reckless challenges, Spurs were labouring and devoid of inspiration.
Now chairman Daniel Levy must decide whether to keep Conte in charge until his contract expires at the end of the season or make a change now.
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Either way an ‘arrivederci’ is coming soon.
Spurs are fourth, the position Conte did well to guide them to last season – but his appointment here never seemed a great fit and the natives are seriously restless with the Italian now.
Conte was making his second return after gallbladder surgery – rushing back too soon for his team’s narrow defeat in the fist leg in the San Siro.
But with this result coming just seven days after a shock FA Cup defeat at Sheffield United, sympathy is limited appetite is waning for his cautious brand of football.
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Just as at Chelsea the previous night, kick-off was delayed by ten minutes because the team buses were late.
Some of us always seem to arrive on time but these people never seem to comprehend the idea that London plus rush hour plus appalling weather might mean traffic.
Milan had been trounced by Chelsea in the group stage and have slipped out of the top four in Serie A.
But far from sitting back on their slim lead, Stefano Pioli’s men defied national stereotype and played much of the early football, with Spurs happy to stay deep and play on the counter.
Early on, Romero collected his first booking. Rafael Leao was standing between Romero and the ball but the Argentinian centre-half ignored this fact as he launched himself and clattered the Milan forward.
This resulted in a cute free-kick routine which foxed Spurs and released Junior Messias who dragged his shot wide.
As hundreds of lunatic Milanese ultras decided to go topless in the sleet, the on-field temperature continued to rise.
Clement Lenglet was cautioned for a flailing arm which connected with Olivier Giroud’s bonce.
Conte, probably defying the advice from his back-to-work interview with HR, chucked a wobbler and was yellow-carded himself.
Giroud, not exactly well loved around here after his spells with Chelsea and Arsenal, decided it would be fun to delay play by elaborately tying his shoelaces, adjusting his gloves and doing his hair – a very metrosexual piece of s***housing.
Kane, who had scored just once in seven Champions League games this season, had a deflected drive saved by Mike Maignan.
But for much of the first half the England captain kept popping up in midfield positions so deep we might start calling him N’Golo Kane.
Spurs were uninspired, their supporters subdued, perhaps downcast after back-to-back defeats at Sheffield United and Wolves.
And there was no obvious sense of love for their returning manager, whom few expect to be around next season.
Whereas at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday there had been a sense of occasion which pumped up Chelsea, here there was a sense of drift.
At half-time, there was a fair amount of booing from home supporters. Really? With their team just one goal down in a Champions League knock-out tie?
What sort of club did they think they were supporting? Presumably one which had won the title more recently than the Kennedy assassination or Beatlemania.
Still, Spurs were almost always better in the second half. Weren’t they?
Yet Brahim Diaz, the first-leg goalscorer, ploughed his way through a couple of challenges and forced Fraser Forster to save with his legs.
Pedro Porro arrived in place of Ivan Perisic, Emerson Royal switching to the left flank.
Kane won a dangerous free-kick in a style we’d refer to as ‘streetwise’ had an Italian done it, but just as some positive noise began to reverberate around this magnificent stadium, Porro ploughed the dead ball into the wall.
The volume was seriously increasing, though, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg forced an excellent save from Maignan despite being forced wide by Milan’s defence.
Porro had livened things up and his curling cross was met with a diving header from Kane, which fell wide.
Conte then sent on Richarlison for Royal, throwing caution to the chill drizzle with a 4-2-4 formation.
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But Romero scuppered that by flying into Theo Hernadez with a stuntman’s tackle by the touchline and ref Clement Turpin reached for a second yellow, which could have been a straight red, as the Argentine lay prone in the Milan technical area.
And with Romero went Tottenham’s realistic chances of reaching the quarter-finals.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
