Conte slams ‘crazy’ Tottenham schedule before CL return

Antonio Conte

has slammed

’s fixture list in the World Cup run-up, saying that it is the first time in his career that he has gotten such a “crazy” plan.

The Spurs will start their Champions League season against

on Wednesday, coming back after two seasons.

They are going to play 17 matches in the next nine and a half weeks, because of the mid-season staging of the World Cup in Qatar.

Conte was shocked to see the crush of games on his side’s schedule, stating that the organizers should do a better job.

"It's crazy,"

he stated at a pre-match press conference. "

We played three games in six days against Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Fulham, and now we play three games against Marseille, [Manchester] City away [and] Sporting Lisbon away in six days.

"I think [this is the] first time in my career [I have] seen a schedule like this. I think we can do much better for the future."

Conte also stated that his side’s return to the Champions League was an opportunity to show progress of the previous season.

"First of all, we are having a Champions League press conference for what we did last season,"

he stated.

"I think last season we did a fantastic job with the club and with the players.

"We are to enjoy this important competition in Europe. For sure, we want to play to try to do our best.

"We have to play with ambition and with great desire, with great will. I know very well this tournament is really difficult, it is the most difficult in the world.

"But at the same time, it's a great opportunity to show we are going in the right way, that we are making a step forward and we want to try to improve and to give satisfaction to our fans and then to give satisfaction to ourselves."

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