Conte raises doubts about his future with Tottenham after 'farewell to champions'

Antonio Conte's poor record in Champions League football continued with his team Tottenham Hotspur exited the round of sixteen of the tournament after a sad goalless draw at home with Milan yesterday. Tottenham never threatened the visitors' goal in an attempt to turn a 1-<> deficit in the first leg and came out of the tournament with pain and boos from their impatient fans. Conte returned to the technical area after missing the last four games following gallbladder surgery, but was as lackluster as his team on a freezing night in north London.

In six Champions League seasons with Juventus, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Tottenham, the Italian coach has made it to the quarter-finals just once.
With his contract expiring in June, yesterday's defeat looked like the beginning of the end of his era even if his side continued to compete for a Premier League spot and qualify for next season's Champions League.

It is not certain whether Conte will remain in his position until the end of the season based on his comments on Italy's Amazon Prime. Conte said: "I keep working, I have a contract with Tottenham. I respect the contract. At the end of the season the evaluations with the club will be carried out in the calmest way. Let's see how the season ends. Maybe I'll be eliminated early. Perhaps expectations were higher and you might be disappointed. What matters to the coach is to try to work and raise the level of the team. This year we are struggling to raise the level."

Conte tried to talk about Tottenham's exit from the round of sixteen on the grounds that he had made progress, arguing that last season the team was competing in the Europa Conference League, but fans are unlikely to agree to this.

"We played in the Europa Conference League last year and we couldn't qualify through the group stage. Tottenham have now failed to score in their last three games, losing in the FA Cup to second-tier rivals Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League. And now he barely threatened Milan's mediocre goal.