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Conte underlines the importance of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League before the last round

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur will have to score consecutive defeats in the English Premier League and beat Sporting Lisbon in the penultimate round of Champions League Group D to qualify for the second round. The team, led by manager Antonio Conte, lost locally to Manchester United and Newcastle, but is in head to their group in Champions League with seven points. Last month, Tottenham lost 2-0 to Sporting Lisbon as substitutes Paulinho and Arthur Gomez scored in the final minutes of the match. Tottenham need to win to secure a place in the second round, while a win alone will not be enough for Sporting, who have six points, because they must close the match with Marseille and Eintracht Frankfurt in draw to ensure qualification for the round of 16. Conte stressed the importance of the team to pay the qualification card before being a guest of Marseille in an upcoming game of the last round. “Winning tomorrow is very important,” Conte told reporters. You don’t have to wait until the end roundStriker Richarlison and midfielder Dejan Kulusevsky will continue to be absent from the competition, but Conte has not ruled out the return of defender Christian Romero and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg following their absence from a 2-1 defeat against Newcastle. “We will see the possibility of Romero and Hojbjerg returning tomorrow,” he said, noting: “We will do our best, it is an important match for us, but we have many games. in view of the World Cup “, in schedule for next month. He said striker Lucas Moura could return to the starting lineup after the Brazilian player joined as a substitute in Sunday’s game. “Lucas is recovering and improving after a long injury, but we will have to risk it,” added Conte. “We will evaluate the conditions of the injured players tomorrow to see who is mainly ready to participate,” he added. There were doubts about Tottenham’s abilities after poor performances in their last two league games, but Conte said Wednesday’s game represented an opportunity for a fresh start. “Right now we have to face the match well, adapt to many injuries and overcome the current difficulties,” said the Italian. We have lost the last two games. “” Tomorrow is a different tournament, we have a great chance to win and move on to the next round. It would be an excellent result for us ”. “(When) a team the size of Tottenham played in the (European) Conference League last season … we were in trouble.” (Reuters)

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