Antonio Conte’s dismal record in the Champions League continued as his Tottenham Hotspur side exited the competition in the last-16 after a dreary 0-0 draw at home to AC Milan on Wednesday.

Tottenham never really threatened to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg and went out with a whimper and boos from the home fans whose patience is running out.

Conte returned to the technical area after missing the last four games following gallbladder surgery but was as subdued as his team on a freezing night in north London.

In six Champions League campaigns with Juventus, Inter Milan, Chelsea and Tottenham, the Italian has only managed to reach the Champions League quarter finals once.

And with his contract up in June, Wednesday’s defeat felt like the beginning of the end of an era even if his side remain in contention to finish in the Premier League top-four.

Whether or not Conte remains for the rest of the season is not certain, judging by his comments to Italy’s Amazon Prime.

“I continue to work, I have a contract with Tottenham. I respect the contract. At the end of the season, assessments will be made with the club in the most serene way,” he said.

“Let’s see how the season ends. Maybe they can send me away even earlier. Perhaps the expectations were higher and may be disappointed. What matters for a coach is trying to raise the bar. This year we are struggling to raise the bar.”

Conte was booked for letting his emotions get the better of him while Tottenham had defender Cristian Romero sent off late on.

The match kicked off 10 minutes late because of traffic issues and in truth Tottenham never got out of third gear.

Tottenham forward Richarlison criticised Conte, questioning the Italian’s decision to bench him while declaring the club has had a ‘s%%t’ season.

Richarlison, who was signed by the club in the close season in a deal worth $71.21 million, has found game-time hard to come by under Conte and played only the last 20 minutes on Wednesday.

“I didn’t understand... I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham and suddenly I was on the bench. I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no one told me why,” Richarlison said.

Milan coach Stefano Pioli said his team can dare to dream about going all the way in the tournament.

“Nothing is impossible,” he said.