Report outlines Antonio Conte’s tricky track record in the Champions League

Antonio Conte may be a highly decorated manager but he has found very little success in the Champions League throughout his career.

Conte has nine titles to his name currently, winning the Premier League and FA Cup with Chelsea during his previous stint in England. He also won the Serie A title with Juventus three times and once more with Inter Milan (Transfermarkt).

Since taking over at Tottenham Hotspur in November 2021, Conte has transformed the North London club. He led Spurs to a top-four finish last season, ultimately securing Champions League qualification for this term.

Spurs now await the arrival of French side Marseille on Wednesday night, in what will be their first Champions League game since 2020.

After a successful summer of transfer activity at Tottenham, expectations are high around the club. With a stronger squad and an elite manager at the helm, many fans hope to see Spurs challenge at the very top, and that includes performing on the top European stage.

There are some who would say those expectations should be tempered though, as Conte’s track record in the Champions League leaves a lot to be desired.

In five separate spells in the competition, Conte has taken a team no further than the quarter-finals, which came with Juventus in the 2012/13 season. He has also seen his sides crash out in the group stages three times.

As Oliver Young-Myles points out in his article for inews, Conte’s win rate is significantly lower in the Champions League too. Generally speaking, his win percentage is around 56%, but that drops to 33.3% in the Champions League.

In 36 games in the competition, Conte has won 12, drawn 13, and lost 11. Conte also seemingly has a particular pattern of losing to the big teams in the competition, with many of his victories coming against what would be considered lesser opposition.

According to Young-Myles though, there’s every chance that the Champions League curse could be broken this year.

Young-Myles said: “With the absence of Europe’s biggest and best clubs from their group and after spending £160m to beef up the squad during pre-season, Conte won’t have too many excuses if his team fails to reach the knockout stages this time around.”

Spurs Web Opinion

The Champions League is always a tricky competition to predict, mainly because every team involved is of such a high quality, and the nature of knockout football can produce shocks along the way.

With a fairly favourable group, you’d hope Spurs can at least progress to the next round and go from there, hopefully achieving at least a quarter-final place in the competition.

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