Tottenham ‘crazy’ Champions League draw predicted from six opponents
Spurs in ‘different world’ without ‘indispensable’ Conte – assistant Stellini
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Italian football legend Alessandro Del Piero has predicted an exciting outcome of Monday’s Champions League last-16 draw. He has talked up the chances of Tottenham Hotspur taking on Inter Milan in a ‘crazy’ tie that would see Antonio Conte return to the San Siro.
Tottenham secured their place in the Champions League knockouts with a dramatic 2-1 comeback win at Marseille on Tuesday. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s last-minute stunner ensured Conte’s side would be seeded in the next round, pitting them against one of the competition’s second-place sides.
Inter beat Barcelona to second in Group C, finishing behind Bayern Munich, who recorded their latest dominant group-stage campaign with maximum points. And Del Piero would love to see the Nerazzurri face Tottenham so he can catch up with Conte in north London.
He said: “I have a feeling that something [exciting] will happen [in the draw], to be honest. It would be crazy if it were Tottenham against Inter because Antonio was also Inter’s coach, so it would be a very interesting combination of feelings about these games. Maybe it will happen, and we’ll see each other at the [Tottenham Hotspur Stadium].”
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Conte and Del Piero’s former club, Juventus, have dropped into the Europa League after finishing third in Group H with just three points. And the Italian giants’ struggles have led to growing reports that the Tottenham boss is being lined up to replace Massimiliano Allegri in Turin.
However, Del Piero believes Conte is focused on his project at Spurs, especially after guiding them from ninth in the Premier League to the Champions League knockout stages in the space of a year. “I think now everybody talks about that because Conte did so well at Juve, because the fans love him and because Juve has some problems, but I don’t think at the moment there are any conversations,” Del Piero explained.
This is my personal belief and what I think, nothing that I know to be honest. I think now Antonio is very concentrated on what he is doing at Tottenham Hotspur, and the fact they made the round of 16 is a big thing. He was able to grow the team last year from ninth place, so he started a journey that is still going well, and he has a lot of things to do there. I think he is concentrated as much as he can on this reality that is for him, Tottenham.”
In Monday’s draw, Tottenham will learn whether they face Club Brugge, Inter, AC Milan, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund or Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16.
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