Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is convinced the Premier League outfit will turn around their 1-0 deficit during the Champions League last-16 tie with AC Milan, speaking to Tuttomercatoweb.
The difference between Spurs at home and Spurs on the road is stark, to say the least.
Antonio Conte’s side have won each of their last three games on home soil; beating Chelsea, West Ham United and even Manchester City. In away fixtures, however, they are on a miserable run of four successive defeats, including that FA Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield United and Saturday’s dispiriting loss at Wolves.
The London giants also found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline at the San Siro a couple of weeks ago; failing to muster any sort of a response after Brahim Diaz’s early opener.
Redknapp, however, believes home advantage will be key as Spurs look to overturn that deficit on Wednesday night.
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“Tottenham have some difficulties away from home sometimes, but I think 1-0 isn’t a bad result. I’m sure they’ll turn the tables in the second leg,” says Redknapp, who guided a side containing Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Peter Crouch to the UCL last-eight a decade ago.
“They’ll have the advantage of playing in front of their home crowd. There will be a different atmosphere.”
“When you have players of the level of Harry Kane, (Heung-Min) Son, Richarlison and (Dejan) Kulusevski… They are all capable of overturning similar situations.
“In my opinion, Tottenham have the best centre-forward in the world in Harry Kane. And the atmosphere in the stadium will make the difference. It will be difficult to stop Tottenham. Tottenham’s stadium in my opinion is probably the best in the world. It’s incredible, really.”
Spurs mustered only three shots on target at the San Siro; failing to test the always-unconvincing Ciprian Tatarusanu between the sticks. Redknapp, however, wonders whether Milan really have the talent to keep Tottenham off the scoresheet if they up their game in the second leg, with runaway Serie A leaders Napoli currently the only Italian team capable of going toe-to-toe with Europe’s best.
“I have to admit that the Italian teams aren’t as strong as they once were. They are not at the same level as a few seasons ago,” Redknapp adds.
“Milan and Inter certainly have great traditions. But the only one that gives me the impression of being a top team at the moment is Napoli. What they are doing is incredible.”
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