Antonio Conte will be back on the touchline at the San Siro tonight, the scene of one of his greatest triumphs as a coach.
Conte led Inter Milan to an historic Scudetto in 2020-21, ending the club’s agonising 11-year wait for a Serie A title, and the Italian will be hoping a return to the iconic ground can invigorate himself and Tottenham.
On the eve of tonight’s Champions League last-16 first leg against AC Milan, Conte acknowledged that he is still short of fitness following emergency gallbladder surgery and he is again expected to be assisted by Cristian Stellini, his No2, in conducting his players from the sidelines.
Spurs, though, need inspiration from their head coach following a grim week, including the 4-1 defeat by Leicester, which soured the mood after the victory over Manchester City, and serious injuries to Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Hugo Lloris and Ryan Sessegnon.
A slightly drawn-looking Conte warmly greeted Italian journalists and posed for selfies after Monday night’s press conference — his first since the operation — but the occasion was curiously lacking in atmosphere, with the 53-year-old appearing neither especially animated to be back in Milan nor down about his side’s mounting problems.
Conte’s return to Italy inevitably raises the question of whether he could be back here permanently after this season, with his future at Spurs still uncertain beyond the summer when the Juventus, Inter and Milan jobs could all become available.
Ahead of tonight’s Valentine’s Day clash, he offered encouragement to both Spurs fans and his admirers at home, saying he had “fallen in love” with the atmosphere in English football but insisting that Italy would always be his sweetheart.
“After Chelsea, this is my second experience in England,” Conte said. “There’s an incredible atmosphere at the stadium: people come with the joy of watching the match. It’s a party. From this point of view, if you work there you fall in love. But the first love is never forgotten and my first love is always Italy.”
At Juventus, Chelsea and Inter, Conte built a reputation as a formidable domestic coach but his struggles in the Champions League remain the only stain on his CV, and he is aiming to win only a second knockout tie as a coach — having guided Juve past Celtic in 2012-13 — and perhaps remind his admirers in Italy of his pedigree.
With Spurs struggling for “stability” in the League, Conte hopes his usual trend can be reversed this season, and he can take encouragement from the fact that his side are capable of beating anyone on their day and have a more impressive record than his own in this competition.
The 2019 finalists even have more positive memories of Champions League nights at the San Siro than Conte, including Gareth Bale’s magnificent hat-trick against Inter in October 2010, and their 1-0 win over tonight’s opponents in the quarter-final first leg in the same season.
Spurs’ chances of pulling off another big result here will depend on a makeshift side, with youngsters Oliver Skipp, 22, and Pape Matar Sarr, 20, set to start in midfield. Skipp has never started a Champions League match and Sarr has never played in the competition but Conte has to put his faith in the pair, with Bentancur and Bissouma injured and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg suspended tonight.
There will also be particular focus on the two goalkeepers, with Spurs missing former France captain Hugo Lloris and AC Milan without his likely long-term successor for Les Bleus, Mike Maignan.
Fraser Forster is set for his first Champions League appearance since the 2013-14 season, when his Celtic side lost 2-0 to Milan at the San Siro in the group, after a difficult afternoon at Leicester, where he shipped four times and appeared susceptible to long shots.
Maignan’s understudy, Ciprian Tatarusanu, is also under intense pressure from the club’s fans and local media following a series of poor displays and Spurs will regard the Romanian veteran as a potential weak link in a side who have similarly struggled for consistency this year.
