Stellini explains how Conte feels after Tottenham beat Marseille

Tottenham train ahead of Champions League trip to Marseille

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Tottenham coach Cristian Stellini has opened up after his side were able to proceed to the Champions League knockout stages at Marseille’s expense on Tuesday night. Chancel Mbemba put the home side in front, powering home a header from a corner in the closing stages of the first half. But Clement Lenglet and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg struck to send the visitors through.

Tottenham had gone into their clash with Marseille knowing they must avoid defeat to proceed to the next round of the tournament.

Things got off to a bad start when Son Heung-Min was forced off, with the South Korea international limping out following a clash of heads.

And Tottenham’s night worsened when Mbemba struck, with the Marseille star rising high to head home and send the Velodrome wild.

Spurs were far better after the break, however, and grabbed a deserved leveller through Lenglet – who thundered home a header of his own after a good ball in by Ivan Perisic.

And Hojbjerg’s powerful effort sealed the game for Tottenham, sending the away fans into a state of ecstasy.

Speaking after the game, Stellini has opened up on the contest – and revealed he’d spoken to Conte, who was left ‘tired’ after watching the game from the stands.

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“Performance is…we have to analyse that,” he said. “We repeat the same routine of the last three or four games, didn’t start well in the first half.

“We didn’t use power or intensity in the first half. We let them play too much and we lose the pitch, they have the control of the game.

“After, in the second half when we changed to another solution, we had more control of the game. We had a good second half, I think.”

“I enjoy when we win. These guys deserve to win because we are a good team, we have to show for 90 minutes and we have to work again to try our best and not to lose one (goal) after every game.

“I spoke to Antonio. He is tired, because the game while he is in the crowd is not normal and he wastes a lot of energy.

“Its better to stay on the touchline because you leave the game like the players are doing.”

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Hugo Lloris also spoke out after the contest.

And the France international, who picked up the man of the match award for his performance after making three saves, hailed his team for their resilience.

“To be honest, we expected that type of game,” said the former Lyon goalkeeper.

“It was a very difficult place to deal with and I think we showed great personality.

“In the second half we had a good game and Clement Lenglet scored an important goal in France in front of the French people and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is so important to confirm that top of the group.

“It was a tough night, a great battle and even more psychological battle because we could feel in the first half a team was playing without the fear to lose, it was Marseille, and in the second half we had a team that was fearing to lose and it was us.

“Also I believe that when we had to face difficulties, we showed great personality and it’s a great result.

“Without our coach it was even more difficult for him in the stand and it’s a great winning team – that’s the most important thing.”

And Lenglet added: “We didn’t play well in the first half maybe because we didn’t know if we had to attack or defend and maybe it was not good to play this type of first half.

“After we speak in the locker room and tell what we have to tell, we started the second half with more power and personality to go to score and we played a very, very good second half.

“I am happy to score here, more for the team and we needed one point and it’s very important to win these type of game. I’m happy because it’s an important goal for the team.”

Tottenham are next in action against Liverpool on Sunday (4.30pm).

The Reds warmed up for the showdown with a 2-0 win over Napoli, with Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez on target.

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