Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte insists he has the ‘ambition’ to lift silverware in Europe, but his record in the Champions League and Europa League has always been poor.
The 53-year-old spoke ahead of the opening Champions League fixture for Spurs against Olympique Marseille on Wednesday.
They are in Group D along with Eintracht Frankfurt and Sporting CP.
While he insisted in today’s press conference that he had the “ambition” to win trophies on the continent, his history in these tournaments has always been poor.
The best result Conte ever achieved as a coach in the Champions League was his very first attempt, reaching the quarter-finals with Juventus in 2012-13.
After that, he reached the Round of 16 at Chelsea in 2017-18, but went out in the group stage with Juventus in 2013-14, Inter in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
That is one area where Inter have certainly improved since replacing Conte with Simone Inzaghi, as they made it to the Round of 16 last season, eliminated only by Liverpool.
Conte has done better in the Europa League, achieving the semi-final with Juventus in 2013-14 and the Final with Inter in 2019-20.
In both cases, they had originally been in – and therefore had a squad built for – the Champions League.
The Bianconeri were the absolute favourites to lift the trophy in 2014, but were eliminated by Benfica after a 2-1 away defeat and dismal 0-0 home draw.
Tottenham hired Conte primarily to help them qualify for the Champions League and do well in the Premier League, but unlike Carlo Ancelotti, European tournaments are not where this coach thrives.
The Bianconeri were the absolute favourites in 2014. Stop smoking that stuff, Susy. It’s not good for you or your writing.
He did pretty good at the euro considering the players he had at his disposal