Conte’s worst Tottenham has simplified the work of the Rossoneri.
Milan is returned to the quarterfinals of Champions League 11 years after the last time. Just to make it clear how much something that Milan is historically used to today seems like a sporting accident, the protagonists of that Milan eliminated by Barcelona were Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva, Boateng and Cassano, Nocerino and Van Bommel. Today he comes back later come out unscathed from an elimination round where he started as an underdog, against Tottenham’s Antonio Conte and Harry Kane. Without conceding a goal, taking the lead after 5 minutes into the first leg, dictating the pace and holding up, indeed dominating, in terms of intensity. Not letting themselves be intimidated by the 62 thousand present at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the second leg, with a young team that a month ago seemed depressed and unable to win any game.
That of Milan is also a feat considering the economic and technical gap that exists between Serie A and the Premier League at the moment. Yet another icing on the cake to celebrate the work Stefano Pioli is doing with this group: after a Scudetto that arrived in dazzling times, an equally lightning-fast Champions League quarter-final has also arrived. Just think that Inter, who returned to the Champions League two years earlier than the Rossoneri, have not yet gone beyond the round of 16 – although they now have a good chance of making it against Porto.
The character with which Milan presented themselves in this European confrontation, well distributed throughout the squad, should not be diminished. The young defensive trio showed impeccable concentration – not only in the second leg, but also in the first leg, when we wrote about Milan’s excellent defensive performance – keeping up with the stars of the last World Cup. Bennacer’s absence was not felt by Tonali and Krunic, who didn’t even make Kessie regret. Theo Hernandez, who has returned to great form in this period, has shown himself capable of shouldering the team’s offensive maneuver and of withstanding both duels and provocations with opponents at this level. Maignan with the timed out save from the header made it clear how much he has been missing in the last 5 months, and how much difference he makes in the management of the defensive department. Rafael Leao may not have been as incisive in the center of the Rossoneri attack as he was expected, but he showed off his talent in dribbling skilfully and preciously. Giroud’s shrewdness was instrumental in getting all Spurs defenders to spend yellow cards between home and away games.
Once this list is finished, it’s frankly difficult to find any AC Milan player who has disappointed or hasn’t been useful in going through to the next round. Also Origi in a few minutes he left his mark on the match, hitting a post that would have removed any doubts about the merits of Milan in the double confrontation. Because unfortunately there is some doubt, and it is linked to the two disappointing performances made by Tottenham. The Spurs showed up at this very important appointment in their most blunt and depressing version since Antonio Conte is the coach.
In the first leg Milan had managed perfectly to cage the offensive maneuver of the Spurs, with a lot intensityhigh pressing and propensity to aim individual duels, like Kjaer vs Kane and Thiaw vs Kulusevski. Although the first 90 minutes had said Milan so well with this match plan, for the second Conte did not change anything or look for alternatives. The score was the same: ball to Kane who ducks to exploit his finishing skills, or to Kulusevski to exploit his dribbling ability. And like in the first leg, Tottenham have never, ever, been really dangerous. The only bite he showed was when he tried to halt the AC Milan players after losing individual duels. After 23 minutes Lenglet and Romero were already booked, with the Argentine who will spend his second yellow card trying to do to Theo Hernandez what he failed to do to Tonali in the previous match.
The foul on Theo that caused Romero’s second yellow card and expulsion (photo Milan area)
The AC Milan players seemed too much technically better with the ball on the foot compared to their opponents: they were able to create solutions through dribbling, passing and quick movements. Tottenham were the exact opposite, unable to move up the field quickly without creating the conditions for a transition and attacking very little from the side of Son and Perisic, who in fact were the worst on the pitch if we exclude Romero.
It’s really strange that an expert coach like Antonio Conte hasn’t thought of changing anything in his tactical plan after a lackluster first leg. If in the first leg it was not yet obvious that Pioli would line up with a 3-man defense, in the return match he was practically sure. The problems shown by Tottenham yesterday are the same since November, but despite this Conte never thought of stepping outside the patterns that are congenial to him, those highly mechanized movements he requires of his players wherever he trains. Automatisms which, however, against careful and unshakeable defenses like Milan’s were counterproductive and suffocate the individual talent of many players. Conte has not shuffled the cards even with the choices of men, preferring a tired and out of shape Son to Richarlison even on his return.
The map of Tottenham’s touches from the first half shows the inability of Conte’s team to carry the ball in the last third of the field, especially in the central streets.
Already after 5 minutes the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd, invoked by Conte at the press conference, began to puff, get depressed, shout “boring team”. He had understood that this European Wednesday would not have been the turning point for the season that was needed. On the contrary, more likely he would have scuttled her permanently. After the expulsion of Romero a large part of the English public began to abound the stands. In England it’s not too unusual a gesture, but this time it had the flavor of surrender towards the team. As the 90th was approaching, only the many Italian Milan supporters remained in the stadium mixed in the crowd, eager to finally be able to celebrate Pioli’s team. This is a perfect slideshow of the different level of passion of the two fans at the moment.
This is the first bankruptcy season for Antonio Conte since he was fired at Atalanta. And at this point it was understood that his future is very far from North London, given the expiring contract. In fifteen months Conte seemed to have managed to give the English team a swerve, to instill in them his grit and his desire to win. Now those times seem so distant in the minds of the fans – and who knows, even the players – as to suggest that it was Son’s scoring streak that was the only reason for last season’s rapid improvements, before the team was suffocated by the coach’s tactical dogmas. Conte never questions himself, he talks about the economic gap with the other teams and that efforts must be made. He says you have to be patient, but often he himself doesn’t have it with his own players. All this cost Tottenham another year without trophies and without even the satisfaction of progressing in the Champions League, despite the luck of a draw that was not too prohibitive or in the group stage – where Spurs made a huge effort against Frankfurt, Sporting and Marseille and they passed first with a lot of luck – nor in the round of 16.
“There is an abysmal difference between Milan and Tottenham,” Conte said after the match. «They won the championship, we haven’t won anything for many years». This discourse on the habit of winning trophies always simplifies matters a bit; in truth the difference on the pitch between the players was seen above all in the light-heartedness. The Milan players were sure of their means physical and technical, too Thiaw who has played as a starter for a handful of games. The Milan players faced the opponent thinking about what to do with the ball, those of Tottenham with the careful not to make a mistake first of all. On the occasion of Romero’s expulsion, Kane went to confront Conte harshly, showing all his frustration at the fact that every attempt by him to associate with his teammates was conveniently defused. The coach seemed to listen to him looking at him astonished, disconsolate, without replying. Who knows what his captain might have told him, the man who most of all tried to change Tottenham’s mentality. Much more than his last coaches.
In all of this, Milan comes out galvanized and reinvigorated, perhaps even more than necessary given that their opponent has proved to be particularly sterile. This passage of the round, and the simultaneous advantage situation of Inter and Napoli, risk fueling hasty speeches on the newfound state of health of Italian football and on the overestimation of the Premier League. The truth is that Milan played a great elimination, with a group in decline and numerically shallow. He has brought out a concentration and a great team character that is hardly recognized, both by the players and by Pioli, too often accused of being a “miracle”.
This elimination round tells us that from a mental point of view AC Milan have taken one more step towards the top level of European football. However, he needs to improve in cynicism, given the missed great opportunities between round trips that would have avoided the harsh final agony. In the quarterfinals, the bad choices in the shooting phase shown above all by Diaz and Leao could cost dearly. From this point in the competition onwards, finding depressed opponents like Antonio Conte’s Tottenham is unlikely.