Four days after emerging from pointlessness, Igor Tudor is now no longer winless. His interim reign of error at Tottenham is finally finding its purpose, eight days on from the Croatian appearing a complete and utter lost cause.
Spurs are out of the Champions League but akin to fellow relegation candidates Nottingham Forest, there is the fair argument that Europe could be a very unwanted distraction from survival. With Spurs fans in full voice, still in their seats at the full-time whistle, victory on the night feels far more important than defeat in tie.
Even without the milestone win, there was a sense of hope and pride that was attached to the atmosphere during the contest’s closing stages. “Oh When The Spurs” belting out from stand to stand, you wouldn’t have thought this was a team three goals down and on the verge of being dumped out of Europe. Purely from a performance perspective, a corner had been turned.
There was a semblance after Sunday’s draw at Anfield that, with Tudor on the touchline but not necessarily conscious at the wheel, Spurs were beginning to stage their own rescue mission. Their players had shown some fight. Tottenham couldn’t pat themselves on the back too heavily, of course – that first result in five games under the Croatian was hardly to do with Tudor’s tactical acumen and more came from an ever-beleaguered Liverpool’s persistent inability to finish well. It was nevertheless a babystep in the right direction.
The visit of Atletico now acted as a litmus test to see if they were toddling on the road to recovery. Three goals down after their catastrophe in the Spanish capital, a remontada looked dead on arrival. Instead, this felt like a free hit, their last of what is probably the most important close-season in the club’s history.
Perhaps that’s why Tudor opted for more inconsistency in his team selection, who looked like he was bewildering reverting back to the three-back system that shipped four in 22 minutes at the Metropolitano. Instead, Radu Dragusin slotted in at right-back while Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero returned as first-choice centre-back pairing, with Pedro Porro moving to right wing in a 4-2-3-1 setup – the fourth formation Tudor has utilised in six outings.
Yet in this setup, something began to click for Tottenham going forward. Tudor’s men no longer looked flat or devoid of attacking inspiration. Spurs looked like they had a gameplan and for the first time in his reign, multiple Tudor decisions were paying off at once. Porro was a live wire in his more advanced positions, while Randal Kolo Muani and Xavi Simons – restored to the side after their influential Anfield cameos – made their starts count with goals.
Kolo Muani delivered Spurs a warranted breakthrough on the half-hour mark, providing the header to match countryman Mathys Tel’s inch-perfect cross. To this point, three of Tottenham’s six goals under Tudor were at least in part down to defensive errors, including their second against Atleti last week and their equaliser at Liverpool. This one could only be pinned on the quality of their own.
The same could be said for Tottenham’s second, which came five minutes after piece of individual brilliance from Julian Alvarez briefly snuffed out the newfound belief that was being felt on White Hart Lane. Xavi Simons, with a fire lit by a VAR call that deemed him not to be fouled in the build-up to Atletico’s equaliser, beautifully bent home from range in the 52nd minute.
And it was the Dutchman’s trickery that delivered Tottenham a first win of 2026, a first at home since 6 December. Dancing into the box, he was hacked down – a stonewall spot-kick despite brief interference from VAR. This time the review rightfully went in Simon’s favour, who buried from 12 yards out – a consolation in the tie but potentially crucial to Tottenham’s resurrection.
Spurs still looked porous at the back. They surrendered a lead twice, the second seeing David Hancko completely brush off Djed Spence to head home an Alvarez corner to kill all hope of a comeback 15 minutes from time. Spence regressed into the “Spursy” habits of the away leg moments later, being robbed of the ball at the restart and giving Alvarez a clear run on goal. It would’ve been deja vu if not from the goalkeeping heroics of Guglielmo Vicario, whose impressive display – including a sublime stop to deny Giovanni Simeone’s deflected half-volley – can only highlight how detrimental Tudor’s inclusion of Antonin Kinsky proved to their chances in this tie.
But if not for Jan Oblak down the other end, that unlikely remontada could have become a serious possibility. Tel and Porro both had huge chances to reduce the aggregate deficit to one either side of half-time, but neither could beat the imposing Slovenian.
Alas, there was no miracle on this night, but maybe that was best for Tottenham. They need full focus on maintaining their Premier League status because after tonight’s free hit, Spurs face eight cup finals, now with a reminder of the winning feeling. This will be their last Champions League game for a while – the only remaining Tottenham objective is to avoid the Championship.
