Milan cruise past Tottenham to reach Champions League quarterfinals. Antonio Conte was unable to motivate Tottenham to mount a comeback in the Champions League upon his return after a five-week absence due to gallbladder surgery.
In a dull Round of 16 second leg, AC Milan managed to eliminate Spurs with a 1-0 aggregate victory, courtesy of Brahim Diaz's early goal in the first leg.
Adding insult to injury, Spurs' Cristian Romero received a second yellow card and was sent off late in the game. This defeat means that Tottenham's chances of winning any trophy this season are almost non-existent, having already been knocked out of the FA Cup by Sheffield United and the Carabao Cup Third Round by Nottingham Forest.
In addition, they trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by a significant margin of 18 points.
Tottenham vs AC Milan final score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Tottenham | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AC Milan | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goals:
None
Lineups:
Tottenham (3-4-3): Forster (GK) — Romero, Lenglet, Davies — Emerson (70' Richarlison), Skipp, Hojbjerg, Perisic (53' Porro) — Son, Kane, Kulusevski (83' D. Sanchez)
AC Milan (3-4-3): Maignan (GK) — Thiaw, Kalulu, Tomori — Hernandez, Tonali, Krunic, Messias (56' Saelemaekers) — Diaz (81' Bennacer), Leao (89' Rebic), Giroud (81' Origi)
Tottenham had a lackluster performance, managing only one shot on target during the match. In stoppage time, Harry Kane had a chance to equalize when he headed Son Heung-min's accurate cross, but Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan made a brilliant save to deny him.
Milan almost extended their lead when former Liverpool striker Divock Origi hit the post with a strike, with Tottenham goalkeeper Fraser Forster unable to stop it.
Milan deserved to win the tie, and came close to taking the lead early in the second half when Diaz's powerful shot was saved by Forster.
For most of the game, Stefano Pioli's team appeared at ease and controlled the proceedings, enabling them to register their fourth straight clean sheet in the Champions League.
This result allowed Milan to reach the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in over a decade. Tottenham's top priority now is to secure a top-four spot in the Premier League to qualify for next year's Champions League.
Currently, they are in fourth place, with Liverpool closing in on them. Meanwhile, Milan, who are positioned fifth in Serie A, a long way off the top, will learn their quarter-final opponents in the Champions League when the draw takes place on Friday, March 17.
Tottenham exited the competition with a lackluster performance.
Antonio Conte, who had been absent for several weeks, must have hoped that his return would provide a much-needed boost for the crucial match of the season.
With only a 1-0 deficit against a good but not formidable opponent, Tottenham should have been confident, but they struggled to generate any attacking impetus during the first half.
Their performance was so poor that they could barely keep a single cross in play.
During the first half, the only source of entertainment was provided by Antonio Conte's typical antics.
The former coach of Milan's arch-rivals Inter showed his short-tempered nature by protesting a foul early on and receiving a yellow card from the referee.
Meanwhile, Tottenham's Cristian Romero had also been cautioned for a clumsy challenge. This was a warning of things to come, as the defender went on to injure himself and Theo Hernandez with a predictable foul in the 77th minute, leading to his red card.
Romero's manager might have considered substituting him, but he had other more urgent changes to make.
He brought on Pedro Porro instead, who improved Tottenham's previously non-existent attacking threat from crossing positions, but unfortunately, he too succumbed to the team's collective malaise.
Tottenham attempted to push for an equalizer, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg struck a powerful shot that was saved by Maignan, but their pressure never seemed intense or ruthless enough to stage a comeback.
There will be questions about the future of both Antonio Conte and Harry Kane at Tottenham, following their failure to reach the quarterfinals despite having a good chance to do so.
This is yet another missed opportunity for a club that has not won a major trophy since 2008. Tottenham's recent performances have been poor, with a lack of goals in their last three games, leaving them four points behind Manchester United and just three points ahead of Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
If Tottenham continues to play like this in their remaining league games, they may not qualify for the Champions League next season.
Milan's former Chelsea and Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, and Fikayo Tomori, who played alongside him at Stamford Bridge, were among the players who had an easy night as they progressed to the quarterfinals.
Although they were not at their attacking best, Milan's defensive approach of sitting back and waiting to counter-attack almost secured a more comfortable win, as they were rarely stretched. This was a successful return for Milan, who have won the competition seven times.
Tomori, who is hoping for an England call-up, played an excellent game in defence, keeping Tottenham's attacking threats such as Son and Richarlison at bay. The only time he was troubled was when Kane missed a header.
After conceding 18 goals in seven games in January, Milan have now kept five clean sheets in their last six matches across all competitions, allowing only one team to score more than once against them.
The Italian team's newfound defensive solidity will be crucial for their continued success in the Champions League. Milan cruise past Tottenham to reach Champions League quarterfinals
Pioli acknowledged the challenge but was pleased with his team's performance, saying "We knew it would be tough, but we managed" in his interview with Amazon Prime Video, as Milan ended a run of four away defeats in the knockout phase.
"I urged the players to demonstrate their character. We didn't give up, and we earned our place in the next round. We made it to the quarter-finals, and now we have to wait and see what happens in the draw. We must take it one step at a time," Pioli stated in an interview with Amazon Prime Video.
Giroud shared Pioli's sentiments, saying, "Despite the fact that we could have scored more, we deserved this result. We demonstrated quality and spirit tonight, and we could have won the game too."
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