Champions League Round of 16, Second-Leg

TOTTENHAM 0 (Romero sent off 77)
AC MILAN 0
AC Milan win 1-0 on aggregate

STUMBLING out of the Champions League against a very beatable AC Milan side tonight (Wednesday) was not what the Antonio Conte project was meant to bring.

No – Conte’s forceful personality was billed as the secret ingredient this talented Spurs side needed after the debacle of the Jose Mourinho period and the Liz Truss-like tenure of Nuno Espirito Santo.

But as AC Milan saw out a goalless draw, sending them into the quarter-finals thanks to their 1-0 win at the San Siro, there was the definite sense about the ground that Conte and Spurs are in the twilight of their short-lived love affair.

Conte is not blameless – sending on defender Davinson Sanchez with a goal to be found, and persevering with Heung-Min Son when his painful decline screams for him to be given a prolonged rest: the type of decisions fans have come to expect.

Being knocked out of Europe will also raise the question whether or not Harry Kane will stick about this summer.

With his contract up in 2024, both the club and the player will be working out what’s next – and if Tottenham want a princely sum to fund a new manager, Kane may be the one to be sacrificed.

What a sad state of affairs for the forward: decisions off the pitch have stymied a professional who deserves a cabinet full of winners’ medals. After tonight’s weak surrender, no one would begrudge Kane a new challenge elsewhere.

Speaking after the match, Conte said he believed his team was progressing and issued the usual call for patience. But his words also must be considered to be spelling out that unless the club find some serious money, he’s off in June.

“I think offensively as a team we didn’t create a great deal compared to what we should have created,” said the Tottenham boss.

“We are obviously disappointed. We have made a step forward compared to last season. Last season we played in the Conference League, we didn’t get out of the group, we lost away to Mura, and Vitesse where as this year we won our group and have been knocked out by team who won Serie A last year.”

Promising to “work really hard for the club to try to improve,” Conte continued: “This is not the right day to speak about my future. I have a contract with Tottenham and at the end of season we will meet and then we’ll make a decision.

“I think the situation is really clear. We need time and patience because in this moment we don’t have a solid foundation to be competitive to fight to win.

“We have to finish the season. I have a contract until June. I am happy to work in Tottenham but at the end will make a decision. The club knows very well my vision, my thoughts about the situation.”

This fence-sitting hardly sounds like the pep talk these downtrodden footballers are going to need in the morning with some winnable Premier League games approaching.

But they will have to show more than they did against Milan. In the first half Spurs tried to pick holes but found the balls into Kane and Son’s feet centrally brought no joy as the forwards were closely policed by Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu.

There was no Plan B, and when Tottenham managed to entice Milan out and then hit them on the counter, there was a cynical foul or two to be made. It was telling that Mike Maignan in the Milan goal had no save of note to make in the opening 45 minutes.

As we have seen Conte’s Spurs do in the past, they made a better fist of things in the second half but were still let down by a mixture of poor final balls and some clever Milan defending.

Tottenham were also their own worst enemies, and on 77 minutes they were dealt a blow that sucked whatever energy they had remaining.

Cristian Romero, already on a yellow, stormed across the pitch to get in front of Theo Hernandez. They came together and rightly the referee deemed Romero’s scything challenge to be worthy of a second yellow.

Romero has earned the fans patience through the simple fact he is the best defender at the club. But increasingly his approach appears to be childish. He is more than reckless – he carries individual grudges through the 90 minutes and it shows a lack of focus.

Down to 10 men, Spurs reverted to kitchen sink football, hoisting crosses in from deep that offered little danger. There was a moment when substitute Sanchez thought he had been tripped in the box but there was no second look required by the referee, and it is telling that such incidents are worthy of note.

Spurs struggled in open play. And then came the final chance. Kane got on the end of a Son free-kick and directed his header goalwards. Maignan was there to just do enough and push the ball away from the white shirts near him. It was a snappy save, and was about the only genuine danger the Milan keeper faced all night.

So, a limp season comes to a limp ending in early March, and once again Spurs look like they are going to have to start afresh with a new manager come the summer.

Tottenham: Forster, Romero (sent off 77), Lenglet, Davies, Royal (Richarlison, 69), Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic (Porro, 52), Kulusevski (Sanchez, 81), Son, Kane
Substitutes not used: Austin, Whiteman, Danjuma, Tanganga, Moura, Sarr, Devine

AC Milan: Maignan, Kalulu, Thiaw, Tomori, Messias (Saelemaekers, 56), Krunic, Tonall, Hernandez, Diaz (Bennacer, 80), Leao (Rebic, 88), Giroud (Origi, 80)
Substitutes not used: Mirante, Calabria, Ballo-Toure, Kjaer, Florenzi, Pobega, Gabbia, De Ketelaere