AC Milan defeats feeble Spurs team to advance to Champions League qf

• AC Milan defeats feeble Spurs team to advance to Champions League qf.
• Tottenham was ineffective in attack and had to play the final.
• Milan advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012.

After losing to AC Milan 1-0 on aggregate in the Champions League last 16 after a 0-0 draw on Wednesday, Antonio Conte claimed that Spurs still needed more time to establish themselves as a major force in Europe.

A European elimination following on the heels of a departure from the FA Cup means Spurs’ 15-year search to win a trophy will prolong for at least another season.

Tottenham was ineffective in attack and had to play the final 12 minutes with a man down when Cristian Romero was sent off for two bookable offences, so Conte’s return to the sidelines failed to spur a response from his team.

Conte said, “I´m really sorry for the fans, but we cannot invent the win or hope for a miracle one day that a trophy goes into our training ground,”

“We have to build and have patience. I understand the fans don´t have patience as for a long time Tottenham is not winning.”

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Milan advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012 with victory over two legs.

Milan striker Olivier Giroud said, “We deserved this result, even though we could have scored more,”

“We showed quality, spirit, and we could have won tonight as well.”

Due to traffic, both teams arrived later than expected, which caused a 10-minute delay in kickoff, although it took much longer for the game to start.

After needing additional time to recover from gallbladder surgery following the first leg, Conte was back in control.

The Italian was agitated as usual and received a yellow card from referee Clement Turpin for his outbursts regarding Clement Lenglet’s booking.

His team lacked the same enthusiasm, though, and Spurs struggled to perform.

Only two of Tottenham’s last seven games have ended in victories, including an FA Cup loss to second-tier Sheffield United.

Conte’s contract ends at the end of the current campaign, and he made little effort to allay rumors that he will resign.

Conte said, “The situation is really clear. It is one year and three months since I became coach of Tottenham, I always said the same things,”

“We need time and patience because we don´t have a solid foundation to be competitive to win in my opinion.

“At the moment the club knows very well my thoughts and I have a great relationship with my chairman, with (sporting director) Fabio Paratici, but it doesn´t mean I don´t tell them my vision.

“Now we have to finish the season. I´m happy to work in Tottenham but at the end we´ll make a decision.”

Spurs were only prevented from suffering a second loss that evening by Milan’s careless finishing.

The solitary goal of the game was scored by Brahim Diaz, whose jinking run inside the Spurs area was only denied by Fraser Forster’s extended leg.

At least Mike Maignan had to make a save for Spurs 25 minutes from time as he deflected Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s shot.

For the final 20 minutes, Conte took a chance by switching to a forward four, with Richarlison partnering Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski, and Son Heung-min up front.

The lone opportunity for Kane to save his team came in the final seconds, but Maignan made a good save of his header.

Because to Romero’s misconduct, Spurs were already short one player at that point.

After lunging at Theo Hernandez, the Argentine was penalized for the third time in his Spurs career.

Sandro Tonali, who had teammates supporting him, blew another excellent opportunity at the opposite end of the field before Divock Origi’s shot hit the inside of the post.

Yet, it made no difference since the seven-time European champions hung on to end a more than ten-year wait to get to the last eight.

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