Chris Sutton defends Antonio Conte as Tottenham stars ‘fallen off a cliff’ vs AC Milan

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Chris Sutton has leapt to the defence of Antonio Conte after AC Milan dumped Tottenham Hotspur out of the Champions League. Spurs lost the Round of 16 fixture 1-0 on aggregate.

Brahim Diaz handed the Rossoneri the advantage just seven minutes into the first leg back on February 14. Spurs enjoyed a comfortable time for much of the meeting at San Siro but rarely mustered much attacking momentum. It would be a similar story for the second leg.

AC Milan held Tottenham out for much of the meeting in north London this Wednesday as Conte returned to the dugout. He took the reins back from Cristian Stellini, who stepped in whilst the Italian underwent a full recovery from surgery to remove his gallbladder in Italy.

But the 53-year-old’s return failed to see Tottenham produce an improved performance as AC Milan visited. Spurs struggled to produce much attacking momentum once again. Mike Maignan also handled the best shots Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Kane could produce.

Cristian Romero compiled Tottenham’s misery after earning two yellow cards, as well. The Argentine caught the wrath of French referee Clement Turpin after careless fouls on Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez. He could have even earned his second yellow after fouling Diaz.

Sutton defends Conte as Tottenham crash out of the Champions League to AC Milan

Sutton states the blame for Tottenham crashing out of the Champions League to AC Milan in the last 16 cannot by directed at Conte alone. He feels a number of those the Italian put his faith in on Wednesday night let the Premier League club down while Conte showed up.

“Conte has been through a lot and he could have taken tonight off,” Sutton told BBC Radio 5 Live. “But he wanted to be there and front up. You have to give him the respect for that. Many may want to blame the manager but a few players have really fallen off a cliff.”

Romero, in particular, cost Tottenham with his erratic performance against AC Milan in the Champions League tie. But Emerson Royal lacked an end product, Ivan Perisic did not pose any threat, the Rossoneri controlled Son Heung-Min and Spurs left Kane to chase the ball.