Milan edge out Spurs to take 1-0 lead in Champions League round of 16

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Milan edge out Spurs to take 1-0 lead in Champions League round of 16

Published: 15 Feb. 2023, 15:39 Updated: 15 Feb. 2023, 16:01

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min in action against AC Milan's Pierre Kalulu during a UEFA Champions League round of 16 match at San Siro in Milan on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League round of 16 campaign got off to a rough start on Tuesday, falling behind just minutes into the first half to lose 1-0 to AC Milan on the road in Italy.

Brahim Diaz delivered what turned out to be the killing blow seven minutes into the game at San Siro, heading in a deflection after a fantastic initial save from Fraser Forster. The effort was practically undefendable, with Forster already on the ground from the initial block.

The Diaz goal proved to be it for the game, with 83 minutes of silence following until the final whistle blew with Spurs down 1-0 on aggregate and some work to do in London in a few weeks.

Yet despite the loss, that 83 minutes was some of the most encouraging football Tottenham have played in the last few months. There was no collapse, no wobble and no shake. No sense that the whole castle was about to come down because they’d been knocked on the back foot early.

Instead, in a show of remarkably un-Tottenham-like behavior, they shook their heads and buckled down and got on with it. For the majority of the remainder of the game, Spurs looked like the stronger team with little to fear from a fairly tepid Milan.

But when it came to the final third, Spurs just couldn’t deliver. There were chances — Son Heung-min had some good breakaway moments, Eric Dier miscalculated a crucial header and Harry Kane was still Harry Kane, albeit without any teeth — but Antonio Conte’s team struggled to do anything with them.

In the end, Tottenham may not get to leave San Siro with their heads held high, but at least without too much embarrassment. They showed some potential and if they can capitalize on that in the second leg at home they could turn it around. They will have to do so without Eric Dier, however, who’s second-half booking will rule him out of the second leg.

“I think it was a battle from the start until the end, Conte said after the match. “I think we played against a team with a high intensity and a lot of pressure and it was very difficult to play for us and difficult to play for them. It was a pity to concede a goal after five minutes because I felt in this specific situation we could have done much better.

“Then we tried. When you play against Milan you have to pay attention when you attack to prevent the counter-attack because they have players like Leao and Theo Hernandez and also a point of reference like Giroud. If they have space they can kill you.

“We are now talking about the first game for the qualification and there are two games. I hope, I'm sure, that in the second game in our stadium I know that our fans will create an important atmosphere to push us to overcome the Milan obstacle.”

Spurs will face Milan for the second leg in London on March 8. They have a busy few weeks to get through first, with Premier League games against West Ham, Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers and an FA Cup fifth round clash with Sheffield United.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]