Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has urged his team to play fearlessly against Liverpool this weekend in the Champions League final.
Conte’s side travels to Anfield hoping to keep their top-four hopes alive, but they’ll face a tough test against a Liverpool side that has yet to lose domestically in 2022 and is chasing all four major trophies.
Spurs drew 2-2 with Liverpool in the reverse fixture, and Conte has spoken out about the challenge ahead, telling his players to ‘not be afraid of the pressure’ while facing a Liverpool side he believes is one of the finest teams in the world. Certainly, we are aware that Liverpool is in excellent form at the moment,” Conte said at his pre-match conference.
“I watched the game against Villarreal and was astounded by the team’s calmness in a difficult situation. They were down 2-0, and the atmosphere was tense. Together with Manchester City, they are one of the top teams in the world. We’ve done an excellent job of preparing for the game. We must be excellent without the ball and on defense, but we must also be exceptional with the ball if we are to win. This is what I told my players. We must play well and not be intimidated by the pressure.
Spurs have had good performances against the league’s top teams this season, picking up six points from meetings with Manchester City in addition to their December draw with Liverpool. Conte addressed what he expects from his players ahead of the trip to Liverpool, and believes that playing against more spacious teams suits his squad’s present “characteristics.”
“I believe that when you play against these major teams, it is critical that everyone has a strong desire to find a means to stop them.” As a result, it happened again against Manchester City, and we drew at home against Liverpool.
“Certainly, playing against a team that prefers to play face-to-face is preferable to playing against a team with little space to exploit, perhaps because of the characteristics of my players. ” It was the same against Leicester, a team that plays attack and attack.
Due to a groin injury, Antonio Conte is unclear whether Sergio Reguilon will play for Tottenham again this season. After gaining consistent playing time in Ryan Sessegnon’s absence last month, the Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the XI against Brentford due to injury.
Reguilon was on the bench for the 0-0 draw at Brentford Community Stadium but did not appear in the match, before missing the 3-1 win over Leicester City last Sunday. Conte has admitted that his players have yet to return to training with a little over two weeks till the current season ends.
