An early goal was enough for troubled AC Milan to edge Tottenham 1-0 on Tuesday in its first Champions League knockout match in nearly 10 years.
Brahim Díaz netted in the seventh minute to give Milan a slender advantage to take to London when the teams meet again in the second leg of the round of 16 on March 8.
But the Rossoneri could be left counting the cost of two late missed opportunities that their coach thought were going to end up in the back of the net.
바카라The two chances for Charles (De Ketelaere) and Malick (Thiaw) were important, I was already celebrating on the bench,바카라 Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. 바카라2-0 would have been a better result clearly because we are sure that the return match will be as close, as difficult.
바카라But I can바카라t be anything but happy with the team바카라s performance today.바카라
It was a miserable return to San Siro for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, who endured only his second loss against Milan in 15 matches as coach. The former Inter Milan and Juventus coach had engineered 10 victories over the Rossoneri.
바카라I바카라m not disappointed with the performance,바카라 Conte said. 바카라Some of the players need to find their belief again. But there was a lot of commitment and desire from them all. My job is to show the players that I have a lot of belief in them.바카라
It was also Tottenham바카라s second straight defeat since Conte returned to the dugout following gallbladder surgery. Spurs lost 4-1 at Leicester in the Premier League on Saturday.
For Milan, it is a further sign that things might be turning around after a tough run. Milan was winless in its past seven matches, including losing its previous four matches, before Friday바카라s 1-0 win over Torino.
That run had seen the defending Serie A champion fall 18 points behind league leader Napoli, get knocked out of the Italian Cup and lose the Italian Super Cup to bitter rival Inter.
바카라Progressing to the next stage would give our season a lot more sense and positivity,바카라 Pioli said.
The match at San Siro was Milan바카라s first in the Champions League knockout stage since 2014. It hasn바카라t reached the quarterfinals since 2012.
And the Rossoneri got their return off to the perfect start. Théo Hernandez saw his shot parried by Fraser Forster and Tottenham바카라s goalkeeper then did brilliantly to claw away Diaz바카라s effort from the rebound but the Milan midfielder bundled in from point-blank range on the second attempt.
In a tight match, there were few goalscoring opportunities and neither goalkeeper was really tested.
Ciprian Tătărușanu, who faced criticism during Milan바카라s dismal run, pulled off a fantastic double save on the stroke of halftime. He did well to deny Son Heung-min then even better to clear the danger after Harry Kane바카라s follow-up came off the underside of the crossbar. However, it wouldn바카라t have counted anyway as Son had been offside.
Milan should have wrapped up the win in the final 12 minutes but first substitute Charles De Ketelaere saw his close-range header cleared by Spurs midfielder Ivan Perišić and shortly afterward Malick Thiaw headed narrowly wide of the left post from six yards out.
Bayern Munich won 1-0 at Paris Saint-Germain in the night바카라s other Champions League match.
