The Champions League remains a cruel mistress for Antonio Conte. A manager with five domestic league titles to his name has still never been past the competition’s quarter-finals and just as he was celebrating Tottenham reaching this season’s knockout stage, the VAR gods intervened.
In the final seconds of time added on, the maniacal celebrations of scorer Harry Kane and his manager had matched each other, only for an interminable wait and a final judgment that Kane had been offside from Emerson Royal’s header just before knocking in the winner. It was all too much for Conte, his joy oscillating to blind rage. He was shown a red card amid chaotic, insurrectional scenes.
