12/03/2026

THURSDAY | MAR 12, 2026

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Kinsky howler Spurs boss Tudor rues ‘incredible situation’ after early goalkeeper substitution

Atleti’s Julian Alvarez (front) scores the third goal as Spurs’ goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky (inset) confronted byCristian Romerofollowing his substitution in the Champions League R16 first-leg match at Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid yesterday. – AFPPIC/REUTERSPIC

F OR a team failing on all fronts, Tottenham Hotspur succeeded in one thing. They put the mad into Madrid. In the meltdown in the Metropolitano, Spurs appeared to knock themselves out of the Champions League in 22 strange, shocking minutes. An hour later, Dominic Solanke’s goal pro vided a glimmer of hope amid the humiliation. There may be a sliver of a chance the craziest part is still to come. Because, as Tottenham lost six consecutive games for the first time in their history, they could be grateful they leave Spain only beaten 5-2. They seemed to turn up in the wrong boots, with the wrong goalkeeper and the wrong manager. They gifted Atletico Madrid an assortment of ridiculous goals, the first three each sillier than the last, the fifth with a hole where their defence was supposed to be. A side with a capacity for slip-ups took it liter ally, losing their balance, the ball, their dignity and, probably, their place in the Champions League. Their latest manager may lose his job. This was a harrowing night for the hapless Antonin Kinsky, a horrible one for the hopeless Igor Tudor. The biggest selection decision of his brief reign will surely be destined to be remem bered as the worst. By the time Atletico went 4-0 up in the 22nd minute, Kinsky had already gone, his unexpected appearance so painful he met with sympathetic applause from the home fans.

for them, a club who have had their own unhappy experience of Champions League finals, who usually finish behind the superclubs in their own country, but who are nevertheless constants in the most prestigious and profitable continental competition. For Tottenham, the probability is that this is their last Champions League tie for quite some time. Now, elimination would be far less painful than relegation. Thomas Frank, the manager appointed to improve upon the Europa League winner Ange Postecoglou’s increasingly awful Premier League record, instead prospered in the Champions League, aided by a distinctly friendly fixture list. Under other circumstances, though, Tottenham could appear favourites to knock out Atletico; after all, they finished 10 places ahead of them in the league stage. The sight of Spurs in fourth could have looked like the successful culmination of Daniel Levy’s chairmanship; with Tottenham established among the superpowers, punching above their weight, even if their position carried no prize. And yet it has come to look like an irrelevant achievement: forget looking down on Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain in the standings, Spurs could do with seeing at least one of Leeds, Nottingham Forest and West Ham in their rear view mirror come the end of May. – AFP/The Independent

it was too much for us,” continued Tudor. “(Kinsky) was sorry … the team is with him, me too. I was speaking with him. He understands the moment, he understands why he goes out. “As I said before, he’s a very good goalkeeper. We are with him, we are all together. It’s never about one player.” Tudor, who has lost all four matches at the helm since replacing Thomas Frank in February, refused to say whether he should still be at the helm. Tottenham, 16th in the Premier League, are facing a fight against relegation. “I need to keep working. Not speaking too much, stay focused on the things we can do,” Tudor added on TNT Sports . “It’s unbelievably difficult to explain all these things, the first time in my career that I saw these things, 15 years. “I’m focused on the problems, the players also. We need to stay positive.” For Spurs, it is a return that underlines a sense of wasted possibilities. They are back in Spain for the first time since May’s Europa League final ended their 17-year for a trophy, back at the Metropolitano where, in 2019, they had hoped to win the Champions League for the first time in their history. And yet, somehow, this may be the least important game of their season. A far greater cri sis has enveloped Tottenham. Atletico could represent an alternative reality

Tottenham’s interim coach Igor Tudor bemoaned an “incredible situation” which led him to withdraw goalkeeper Kinsky after just 17 minutes yesterday. Tudor selected Kinsky, who had not played since October, over Guglielmo Vicario after five straight Premier League defeats before the game. “(The situation was) very rare. I’ve been coaching for 15 years, I’ve never done this. It was necessary to preserve the guy, preserve the team,” Tudor told reporters. The Croatian coach defended his decision to start Kinsky. “It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are. With pressure on Vicario, in another competition … ‘Tony’ is a very good goalkeeper. It was, for me, the right deci sion. “After this, of course, it’s easy to say that it was not the right decision.” Kinsky slipped and gave the ball away in the sixth minute for Marcos Llorente to open the scoring. After Micky van de Ven fell over allowing Antoine Griezmann to score the second, Kinsky erred again. The goalkeeper bungled a pass and Julian Alvarez was able to walk the ball into the net. Tudor sent on Vicario to replace Kinsky, who was applauded off by Atletico’s fans. “Unfortunately, it happened in this big game, these mistakes. So we paid this start of the game,

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