Conte: It was very important for Tottenham to start this competition in the best possible way

Antonio Conte talked about the tactical tweaks that helped Tottenham get the better of a tough Marseille side and win our UEFA Champions League Group D opener 2-0 on Wednesday evening.

“I think the first half we struggled a bit in these types of duels and maybe only once we kept the ball and attacked the space and shot with Harry. The second half we did this much better, started very well with this type of situation, Sonny attacked the space, and it was a red card. The game changed. After this, we created chances.

“I also tried to help the team by making substitutions, especially with Deki (Dejan Kulusevski) to play very wide and create a one v one on one side, and a one v one with Ivan (Perisic) on the other side to keep the strikers in the game.

“Then, we changed the two central defenders with Ben Davies and Japhet Tanganga, because, in those moments, we had to push. Then, we were good to exploit the situation.

“I’m really happy for Richarlison, this player deserved to have this night, he’s a really good guy, a fighter, I like him a lot. In the end, we got the three points, and it was very important for us to start this competition in the best possible way.”