Milan 1-0 Tottenham (Diaz 7’)
When Oliver Skipp was a young season-ticket holder at White Hart Lane, the prospect of starting a Champions League match at San Siro was unimaginable. Then again, it didn’t seem all that realistic on Saturday morning before Rodrigo Bentancur tore his ACL.
It is hard to legislate for the kind of bad luck which has threatened to derail Spurs’ season, from Bentancur being ruled out for up to eight months to Yves Bissouma’s injury coinciding with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s European suspension.
Antonio Conte had two options. Shift Eric Dier into central midfield, which he confessed was an alternative he had not even had time to consider, or lean on Pape Matar Sarr and Skipp for their first ever starts in the competition.
By the time Conte had his head in his hands after just seven minutes, Brahim Diaz bundling in despite Fraser Forster’s double save, it was nothing to do with his central midfield pairing. On the contrary – there was more chaotic defending, this time from Cristian Romero, and Spurs were largely toothless in the final third, but the Skipp-Sarr axis was one bright point on another difficult night.
Falling behind so early could have been catastrophic had the duo not wrestled possession back into Spurs’ control for the next crucial passages. Their composure was all the more impressive when you consider Sarr is 20, Skipp is 22, and in the league they have just 334 minutes between them all season. Skipp has completed 90 minutes once in that period, in the FA Cup win over Portsmouth.
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Much like Harry Winks, he has enjoyed the grace period of a lifelong fan and academy product but must take the opportunity to deliver on his early promise.
Sarr seemed like a niche option too, but his passing range is equal to Hojbjerg’s and his interceptions neutralised Rade Krunic and Sandro Tonali.
This would never have been the path Conte would have chosen, but one upshot may be discovering that Skipp and Sarr look ready to step up.
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