Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte will on Tuesday take charge of a Champions League match for the 37th time. It’s a relatively small tally when you consider Conte has been an elite coach for more than a decade. A point of comparison: Pep Guardiola will be overseeing his 150th European Cup game on Wednesday.
Lose at Eintracht Frankfurt and Conte’s record in the competition will stand all square: as many losses as victories, and an overall win ratio of around one in three. And the comparisons with other elite coaches are not flattering for the Italian.
The precocious Julian Nagelsmann, 35, has managed in a similar number of Champions League fixtures, and already built up a win percentage of over 50. Admittedly, Nagelsmann is in his second campaign coaching Bayern Munich, but the majority of his assignments in Europe’s principal competition were at Hoffenheim, who never won under him, and a sometimes erratic RB Leipzig.
Conte has meanwhile managed Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan on midweek Uefa nights, usually as the proud bearer of a league title he guided them to.
The contradiction between his domestic expertise, and a career freighted with gold medals with different clubs from different countries, and the limp catalogue of early exits from Europe has long been a puzzle.
Conte is a builder of confidence in players and squads, a nurturer of drive and stamina, but when it comes to the European Cup, in which he reached four finals as a Juventus player, Conte teams again and again hit a wall.
Granted, his Inter did go all the way to a losing Europa League final in 2020, but that was after they had been relegated into that competition in the autumn.
Sporting 2-0 Tottenham: player ratings
SPORTING RATINGS: Antonio Adan 7 – The goalkeeper only had to make a couple of straightforward stops but came to his side’s rescue to deny Emerson Royal. Getty
Goncalo Inacio 6 – Got stuck into his defensive duties, charging down Bentancur’s goal-bound effort in the early stages. AFP
Sebastian Coates 6 – Solid display at the back against an underwhelming Tottenham front-line. Reuters
Matheus Reis 7 – Looked confident and brought the ball out of defence well. The centre-back lost possession after 24 minutes but recovered well with a vital block against Richarlison. AFP
Hidemasa Morita 5 – Sloppy in possession and lost the ball in the middle of the park after 63 minutes and carded for the subsequent foul on Son. EPA
Manuel Ugarte 6 – Moved the ball well from the midfield. EPA
Pedro Porro 8 – Outstanding with the ball and the wing-back was kept off the scoresheet by a remarkable save as Lloris palmed his curling effort behind for a corner. A quality delivery from the set-piece provided the assist for the opening goal. AFP
Nuno Santos 7 - His link play was excellent on the left. Reuters
Francisco Trincao 6 – Looked dangerous when running at the Tottenham defence. The forward found himself in space outside box after 27 minutes but scuffed a shot wide instead of laying the ball onto a well-positioned Edwards. Reuters
Pedro Goncalves 6 – A good cameo, and the winger had several chances to score, but his tame efforts did not trouble the Tottenham goalkeeper. AFP
Marcus Edwards 8 – A standout performance from the former Tottenham player. The 23-year-old deserved to get on the scoresheet after dancing his way through the midfield, but Lloris managed to divert the ball just past the post to deny what would have been an exceptional goal just before half time. AFP
SUBS: Sotirios Alexandropoulos (Morita, 71) N/A - The young Greek kept things simple. Getty
Paulinho (Trincao, 76) N/A – Scored a glancing header to break the deadlock after 90 minutes. PA
Arthur Gomes (Edwards, 90) N/A – Became the second substitute to get on the scoresheet after nutmegging Emerson and slotting the ball past Lloris. Reuters
Ricardo Esgaio (Santos, 90) N/A. EPA
TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris 8 – Forced into action in the closing minutes of the game. After producing an outstanding save to send Porro’s curling effort for a corner, the goalkeeper was then left stranded by Paulinho’s header, and could do little about Arthur’s finish three minutes later. AFP
Ben Davies 6 – Not a bad performance in defence. Getty
Eric Dier 6 – Showcased a wide range of passing and made some important blocks but was ultimately caught out by the pace of the Sporting counterattack. Getty
Cristian Romero 5 – Couldn’t get back to help his full-back for the second goal. Reuters
Emerson Royal 4 – Found himself at the end of Tottenham’s biggest chances but the defender could not find the finish. Guilty of poor defending for the second goal, which saw the Brazilian nutmegged by Arthur. AFP
Rodrigo Bentancur 5 – An average display in a defensive performance, and the midfielder was booked at the hour mark for a challenge on the onrushing Goncalves. AFP
Pierre Hojbjerg 5 – Looked slow in the middle of the park, with a few misplaced passes. Booked for a late challenge on Ugarte. AP
Ivan Perisic 6 – Delivered some dangerous crosses into the box. AFP
Son Heung-min 4 – Another frustrating game for the South Korean, who is still searching for his first goal of the season. EPA
Richarlison 6 – Showed glimpses of his quality on the ball but the Brazilian strayed into an offside position on three occasions. AP
Harry Kane 5 – Couldn’t make an impact on the game, as the striker was found dropping deep as his side struggled in front of goal. Getty
SUBS: Dejan Kulusevski (Son, 72) N/A – Looked lively after coming for the subdued Son and won a free kick immediately after his introduction. AP
All told, in his five campaigns as a Champions League manager, Conte has successfully negotiated just one knockout tie, Juventus overcoming Celtic back in 2013. He has failed to go beyond the group stage three times. And that’s a precedent that casts a particulate shadow over this early stage of his first Champions League adventure with Spurs.
There are anxieties ahead of the back-to-back fixtures against Eintracht Frankfurt in a tight Group D, starting with the Germany leg Tuesday. “This has to be a big push,” said the Italian.
Some of Conte’s compatriots have a theory on his Jekyll-and-Hyde, Europe-and-domestic character - that an excess of tactical caution might explain the serial shortcomings in Europe’s most elevated company.
They draw the contrast with Conte’s fellow Italian exporter of coaching excellence, Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti, 63 and 10 years Conte’s senior, has a stunning four Champions League titles as a coach but it took him 27 years of working in club management to reach his fifth league title – one for each country where he has worked.
Among the European expert Ancelotti’s fortes are his flexibility, a freedom from set dogmas. Conte certainly cuts a very distinct figure on the touchline, harnessing rage and energy, very firm in his instructions and beliefs.
He will travel to Frankfurt to the background of probably as noisy a blast of criticism as at any time since he joined Spurs 11 months ago.
Granit Xhaka celebrates after scoring Arsenal's third goal in the 3-1 Premier League victory against Tottenham at Emirates Stadium on October 1, 2022. AP
Arsenal players celebrate after Granit Xhaka's goal. AP
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli reacts after being fouled by Tottenham Hotspur's Emerson Royal, leading to a red card. Reuters
The big screen displays the red card given to Tottenham Hotspur's Emerson Royal. PA
Gabriel Jesus celebrates after putting Arsenal 2-1 in front. AP
Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring the second goal with Granit Xhaka. Reuters
Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane celebrates levelling at 1-1 from the penalty spot. Reuters
Harry Kane scores the equaliser from the penalty spot. EPA
Kane celebrates after scoring. EPA
Arsenal's Thomas Partey celebrates with teammates after scoring the first goal. Getty
Tottenham Hotspur's French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is beaten by a shot from Arsenal's Ghanaian midfielder Thomas Partey. AFP
Thomas Partey celebrates scoring the first goal of the game with teammate Granit Xhaka. PA
Tottenham Hotspur's Hugo Lloris under pressure from Arsenal's Gabriel. Reuters
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte is not happy. Reuters
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta directs play. Reuters
Then, he had to oversee the last petering out of a glum Europa Conference League campaign – exit at the group stage – but the uptick in form, and vibrancy, after the later period of Jose Mourinho’s management of the club, and the short-lived Nuno Espirito Santo reaffirmed Conte’s knack of galvanising a squad.
Finishing fourth in the Premier League was an excellent achievement.
But Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at table-topping Arsenal, in the most resonant of fixtures for Tottenham fans, stalled the promising momentum of the current campaign and held up an uncomfortable mirror on Spurs limitations – and on Conte’s instinct to rely on counter-attack, as they were doing even before Spurs were reduced to 10 men with the sending-off of Emerson Royal. “We have to improve the situation,” admitted Conte.
Frankfurt, by contrast, beat the Bundesliga leaders Union Berlin, at the weekend and although they will be without Mario Gotze due to an ankle problem, their coach Oliver Glasner insists “we’ll be well prepared. We’ve studied how Spurs operate and we’ll be playing to win.”
The clubs are tied on three points each in the group, behind Portugal’s Sporting, who have maximum points. “The two games in eight days make it feel like it’s a knockout tie,” said Sebastian Rode, the Frankfurt captain.