Antonio Conte had mixed emotions during Tottenham’s win over Frankfurt (Picture: Getty Images)
Antonio Conte admits that he was scared by his Tottenham side near the end of their win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night as they threatened to let a crucial win slip away.
Spurs go to the top of Group D with a 3-2 win, but it was almost a ‘disaster’ for Conte’s men as things got unnecessarily nervy towards the end.
After going a goal behind, Spurs went 3-1 up thanks to a Son Heung-min brace and Harry Kane penalty, with Frankfurt’s Tuta also sent off with the game at that scoreline.
Things looked extremely comfortable for Tottenham at that stage, but a late goal from Faride Alidou made things edgy, before Kane missed a penalty in stoppage time and Conte was starting to fear the worst.
Things turned out fine this time around, but the Italian says the players, his staff, himself and even the fans have to learn a lesson.
‘It is difficult to start from the end of this game because we played a really good game, despite we conceded a goal, but our reaction was an important reaction and we created many chances to score,’ said Conte. ‘That is the positive aspect from the game.
‘The negative aspect is the final part and it has to be a big lesson for everybody, for me. The game finishes when the referee whistles three times. In the last part of the game, everybody conceded the game ended and for this reason we made a big mistake.
‘We conceded a corner they scored, then we missed the penalty. When we missed the penalty I admit I was a bit scared, because I thought everything can happen.
We are talking about a really good performance but the final part we have to take a big lesson, everybody. Myself and the players, everybody conceded the game ended. Maybe also the fans. It was an important win for us, now we are leading the group, everything is in our hands. We have the chance to go through the next round if we win our next game.
‘The teaching has to be that nobody concedes the goal. If you are leading 3-1 against 10 men then everything has to stay in the same path but football is difficult. Now we are talking with a smile because we won, but imagine if this game finished with a draw it would have been a disaster.’
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‘We made a big mistake.’