Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has urged his side to “start believing” after they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to AC Milan in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday.
Spurs hardly created anything at the San Siro, and after Tuesday’s loss in the first leg of the round of 16 matchup and Sunday’s heavy loss to Leicester, Conte stated that it was his responsibility to instill more confidence in his players.
“I think some players need some more belief, especially in attack. We need to rediscover that belief in we have lost in taking on your man, but there was great effort and desire,” Conte told reporters.
“My job is to give players belief in themselves… we definitely need to try and improve.”
Conte was forced to start young players Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr in the midfield due to Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma’s serious injuries.
The Italian stated that the duo’s performances gave him hope, as he will be without Bentancur for the remainder of the season and Bissouma will require surgery for an ankle stress fracture.
“To play this way in the Champions League and in San Siro in this atmosphere… they played a really good game, I’m really happy,” added Conte.
“This type of performance makes me more relaxed for the future because you consider that we could finish the season with three midfielders.
“I know I can count on these two players 100 percent.”
Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw missed golden opportunities to extend Milan’s aggregate lead late in the game, leaving Milan coach Stefano Pioli to ponder what might have been.
Instead, the seven-time European champions will have to defend a one-goal lead in London the following month after a resounding victory that gives them a chance to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.
“Winning 2-0 would have been a better result, because we’ll have an equally difficult match in London if not more so, but I can only be satisfied about the team’s performance,” said Pioli.
“It’s obviously good, but in football it’s the next match that counts. We can take a lot of positives from this match but Saturday (at Monza) we need to get back out there and win again.”
