Redknapp confident ahead of Milan clash
442 Staff - Tuesday 15 February 2011, 16:40
Ahead of his side's Champions League round of 16 clash with AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has expressed confidence in his team toppling the Italian league leaders.
After overcoming resilient Young Boys side in the final qualifying round prior to the group stages, Spurs have gone on to impress in - and top - a group that contained the Dutch and Italian champions from the previous season.
GEAR: Up to £10 off Champions League shirts with Kitbag. Free delivery on orders over £50
Tottenham's endeavour earned them a place in the first knockout round of the competition and a mouth-watering tie with AC Milan.
And Redknapp openly fancies his side's chances of progressing through to the next round and refuses to accept that drawing Copenhagen in the knockout round would have formed a clearer path into the quarter finals.
“I didn’t want to play Copenhagen. I just thought that everyone was saying if we get Copenhagen we are in the last eight," he said.
"I was thinking well no it’s just not that easy. They are not a bad side, it’s a banana skin. If it goes wrong, all that great work of winning the group goes out of the window.”
Although the Rossoneri are riding high in Serie A, Redknapp doesn’t see much difference between this AC Milan side and the Rafael Benitez-led Inter Milan that Spurs defeated at White Hart Lane last November.
“It’s a tough game and there’s not much between AC Milan and Inter, they are pretty evenly matched teams," he added.
"We saw off Inter, we would have gone through if it was on aggregate. So there’s no reason we can’t do the same to AC Milan.”
Milan’s star-studded line-up is particularly top heavy in the striker department, and Redknapp has pin-pointed Zlatan Ibrahimovic as their key man.
“Their centre-forward is a top player in Ibrahimovic. He is their star player for me. He is a top player who is a fantastic talent.”
Harry Redknapp was speaking to Yahoo! Visit The Dugout at www.yahoo.co.uk/sport
By Killian Woods