Tottenham will face four players with extra motivation during their Champions League knockout clash with AC Milan with a number of Rossoneri stars previously representing bitter rivals Arsenal or Chelsea. Fikayo Tomori and Tiemoue Bakayoko represented the Blues while Olivier Giroud played for both of Spurs’ London rivals. Additionally, midfielder Ismael Bennacer spent time within the Gunners’ youth set-up before his move to Italy.
Antonio Conte’s men will face Milan for a place in the Champions League quarter-finals next year, with the matches to be played in February and March. As seeds Spurs will spend the second leg at home with the first to be played out at the San Siro.
It is the second time that the Lilywhites have faced the Serie A giants in the last-16 of the competition, with the pair drawn together in 2011. Spurs were victorious in the match-up with Peter Crouch scoring the only goal across the two games to secure a 1-0 aggregate win for the British side.
However, Tottenham could face a tougher task this time around given four of the Milan squad have extra hunger to play against them. Tomori and Bakayoko may feel more fired up given their history as Chelsea players, with the Frenchman still on loan from the Blues.
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“Big team with a big history in Europe,” he told BT Sport after the draw. “Back when I played in the Champions League, we come across them as well. A big side and looking forward to the challenge.
“At this stage there’s only big teams left in the in groups and you know, no team was going to be easy. Milan is a good draw for us and obviously playing a second leg at home is going to be going to be vital, and we hope it can make a big difference.”
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