Antonio Conte in Tears As Powerful Tribute Is Paid to Late Tottenham Fitness Coach Before Brighton Clash

• Antonio Conte exhibited rare emotions prior to the clash involving Brighton and Tottenham
• The manager cut an emotional figure as the entire stadium paid tribute to Spurs fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone
• Ventrone passed away earlier in the week aged 61

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte could barely hold back his tears on Saturday, as the entire Amex stadium paid a powerful tribute to the departed Spurs fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that the veteran fitness coach had passed away aged 61. He was a valued member of Antonio Conte’s staff, and worked with the tactician at Juventus and more recently at Spurs.

According to The Mirror, the late fitness coach passed away from fulminant leukaemia.

In addition to respects that were already paid to Ventrone earlier in the week, Tottenham players showed their class with another emotional gesture prior to the game against Brighton.

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The players warmed up in shirts that read 'Always in our hearts, Gian Piero', and moments before kick-off, the entire Amex stadium held a minute’s applause for Ventrone.

It was during this applause that Conte found himself on the verge of tears and in a video doing rounds on social media, the manager was trying hard to contain his emotions.

Before the game, the former Juventus manager said it was difficult to process that Ventrone was no more.

"To find words for Gian Piero is very difficult at this moment," he said.

"We are really devastated by the pain of what happened. Also because no one expected this situation. But sometimes you know life is not always positive situations.”

As far as the game was concerned, Tottenham edged Brighton 1-0 in a hotly-contested encounter.

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Harry Kane got the only goal of the game in the first half as Spurs kept up with Arsenal and Manchester City at the top of the table.

Diego Costa aims dig at Antonio Conte

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on Diego Costa’s thinly-veiled swipe at his former manager Conte.

Costa made an appearance for Wolves against Chelsea on Saturday, October 8 but was taken off in the 57th minute as Chelsea won 3-0.

In his post-match comments, the 34-year-old claimed he left Chelsea partly because of Conte and has no problem with Blues’ fans.