Who is Cristian Stellini? Antonio Conte assistant's tactics, former jobs & playing career
Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini has been thrown into the spotlight at the midway point of his club's chaotic 2022/23 season.
Antonio Conte's recent gallbladder surgery saw him take time away from the dugout, leaving Stellini in charge of a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Conte returned and presided over defeats to Leicester and AC Milan, but has remained in Italy following the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie with the Rossoneri after a routine post-surgery check.
With Stellini again set to fill in on the touchline, here's what you need to know about the Italian coach.
Cristian Stellini's playing career and relationship with Antonio Conte
During a senior playing career which dated from 1992 to 2007, defender Stellini most frequently played for Ternana, Como and later Genoa. He got a big move to Juventus in 2003, but suffered a leg injury and would only play for the Bianconeri twice.
Conte's relationship with Stellini began in 2007 when Conte managed Stellini at Bari. Stellini was firmly in the twilight of his career and moved into a backroom role with Conte in 2010 when the pair moved to Siena. They achieved promotion before joining Juventus, but their time together was cut short by alleged match-fixing.
In 2011, an investigation into match-fixing was launched by Italian authorities. Stellini was one of many figures accused of being involved in the scandal, which centred around the 2008/09 season when Stellini was at Bari.
He was accused of receiving money to influence the result of a game between Bari and Salernitana, which ended in a 3-1 victory for Bari. Stellini maintained his innocence throughout and denied any involvement.
Stellini left Juve 13 months after arriving, being handed a two-and-a-half year suspension from football activities.
"The events of the last month have deeply affected me," a statement from Stellini read. "In a short space of time I went from member of the technical staff of the champions of Italy to a cause of turmoil for those I worked with.
"Whatever the evolution of the legal situation I am in, I feel it is only right to show a professional attitude and release this weight from Juventus which fell on to the club's shoulders due to my time elsewhere in my career.
"I think it is right to dedicate all my time and efforts to clearing my position in these matters, which are exclusively about me and not those I simply shared a locker room with. I therefore tend my irrevocable resignation as technical assistant at Juventus."
Stellini would become Conte's assistant at Inter where they won the Serie A title before joining Spurs in late 2021, helping the club qualify for the Champions League after a terrible start under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Cristian Stellini's preferred tactics
Antonio Conte's tactics with Spurs have come under fire in recent months amid an inconsistent run of five wins and five losses from their last ten games in all competitions.
Rival Premier League sides like Arsenal and Manchester United have developed attractive styles this season, while Spurs have relied on Conte's 3-4-3 formation for chance creation.
However, Stellini is cut from the same cloth as Conte and defended the style of play back in November, saying: "I watch many games and in this particular last month it's not easy to find attractive football because many teams, maybe the best teams in this league, but in all the leagues in Europe, we are playing a lot, and you sometimes have to maintain the energy.
"Every team has problems and in the last five games I haven't seen many games with attractive football for anyone, maybe only from teams that haven't played in European competition.
"We can say that because we know how very difficult it is to dominate the energy in the last month. Liverpool has problems, everyone has problems. We played a great match. We cannot say we didn't play attractive football in the last game. We are happy. Maybe we used a particular time in the game but that's the same for everyone."
Cristian Stellini's former manager jobs
Stellini would work as a youth coach at Genoa for two years before becoming manager of Piedmont side Alessandria in 2017. He was sacked having managed just two wins from 14 games.
However, he has previous when filling in for Conte on the touchline. The fiery Italian has picked up suspensions in the past and Stellini successfully filled the manager void with three victories while at Inter.
Conte was again sidelined for the crucial trip to Marseille in November. Spurs eventually went through as Champions League group winners as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg struck late for a 2-1 win.
When Conte needed gallbladder surgery in early 2023, Stellini was again thrown into some challenging waters, this time against Manchester City. However, the north Londoners effectively nullified Erling Haaland and company to secure a 1-0 victory.
On this edition of Oh What a Night, Sean Walsh & Jude Summerfield look back at Spurs' 2010/11 UEFA Champions League run ahead of the trip to San Siro to face AC Milan in this year's round of 16! If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!