Antonio Conte spoke to the media after Tottenham’s defeat to AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16. While he was disappointed, he also highlighted the fact that the game was balanced.
Milan took the lead after just seven minutes as Brahim Diaz found the back of the net with a close-range header. The Rossoneri then sat back for most of the game but did have a few counter-attacking opportunities, coming close on a couple of occasions.
Speaking to Mediaset after the game, as cited by MilanNews, Conte shared his thoughts on the defeat and the performance of Tottenham. While he admitted that they could have done a lot better on the goal, he insisted that the game was balanced.
“It was an intense match, played evenly and with great balance. We made the mistake to concede the goal after five minutes. We could have done much, much better. At that point, they [Milan] dropped back a bit and we had difficulty finding space. But the match was balanced, decided by a single episode. But this was only the first round, they had injured players and so do we. Ours will remain injured. Credit to Milan, now they will start with an advantage,” he stated.
The second leg will be played in London and is scheduled for March 8. Without the electric San Siro atmosphere, it remains to be seen how Milan will respond but they have given themselves a good chance of advancing to the next round.
