While an away game at San Siro was never going to be easy for Tottenham, Antonio Conte’s men will be relieved to only be 1-0 down for the return leg.
Milan walked away with a win thanks to a goal from Brahim Diaz, with Cristian Romero at fault in the lead up to the goal, which earned him the rating of 4.5/10 in Gazzetta dello Sport, which was ‘the worst’ on the pitch.
However, the Argentine wasn’t the only one who played badly, as despite some spells of control, Tottenham never overly threatened the Serie A side, lacking cutting edge.
There will be arguments that Spurs were missing some key players, and those are true, but that didn’t stop Conte’s side from knowing they could have done a lot better, especially with something to prove following the 4-1 loss against Leicester.
In fact, Arrigo Sacchi, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, feels that something was very off in the way Tottenham played when asked if he found them disappointing.
After all, he should know, since he is widely seen as one of the Spurs manager’s mentors.
He replied: “Let’s say that they didn’t seem like a top team to me. Several players were missing, true, but I didn’t see the usual game, the usual mechanisms. I don’t think Conte can be totally satisfied with the performance, even if there is a return match to be able to fix it.
“We can expect a completely different Tottenham in the second leg, and then Milan will have to pay even more attention. Defensive compactness and immediate counterattacks is what I expect Milan to do in England.”
