The Champions League is back. We have already reached the round of 32. Atlético Madrid hosted Tottenham Hotspur last night. The English side has been going through a very rough spell, and los Rojiblancos were eager to knock the London club out as quickly as possible.
Diego Simeone is once again setting his sights on the Champions League this season, with the gap to league leaders FC Barcelona in La Liga looking too big to close. In the previous round, Atleti comfortably brushed aside Club Brugge with a convincing 4-1 win. Atlético Madrid are always a different beast at home, and history backs that up. Since March 1997, Atleti have not lost a single knockout match at home, so the visitors from North London had been warned.
A warned team is supposed to be prepared, but Tottenham Hotspur look far from it right now. If you stitched together highlights from their entire season, you would end up with something closer to a horror film. The North London club has yet to win a Premier League match in 2026 and currently sits at the bottom of the table. Curiously, things have gone much better in the Champions League, where they finished in the top eight.
Tottenham came to Madrid hoping to forget their Premier League struggles, but any hope of a positive result quickly slipped away quite literally. Back in January, the Metropolitano pitch resembled an ice rink for ice skating, and in the opening 15 minutes it looked like it still did for the visitors.
After just six minutes, Antonín Kinský slipped and played the ball straight to Ademola Lookman. The Nigerian quickly squared it to Julián Álvarez, who in turn found Marcos Llorente. The Spaniard calmly slotted the ball past Champions League debutant Kinský.
The slipping had only just begun. In the 14th minute, it was Micky van de Ven who lost his footing. The Dutch his mistake was picked up by Antoine Griezmann, who raced through on goal and made it 2-0. Two goals gifted through slips, and the crowd could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Spurs were living another nightmare, and there seemed to be no end in sight. Just seconds after the restart, Kinský made another astonishing error. Attempting to clear the ball, he slipped again and handed possession straight to Álvarez, who simply tapped into an empty net.
After 15 minutes, it was already 3-0, and it briefly felt more like a comedy show than a football match. Three goals, all caused by players slipping. As if it was not bad enough, coach Igor Tudor decided he had seen enough from the young goalkeeper. Kinský was immediately replaced by Guglielmo Vicario, something you almost never see in football.
It did not take long before Vicario had to pick the ball out of the net as well. After a cross from the in-form Griezmann, Spurs midfielder Pape Sarr inadvertently headed the ball toward his own goal. Vicario managed to keep it out initially, but Robin Le Normand was there to finish the rebound. 4-0 after just 22 minutes, it was hard to believe.
The entire stadium was buzzing, and while the home side kept pushing, Spurs did manage to respond with a goal before halftime. When Richarlison worked the ball well to Pedro Porro, the right back gave his team a lifeline by finding the net.
Just before the break, both sides came close to scoring again. Lookman nearly added to the humiliation but was denied by a strong save from Vicario. At the other end, Cristian Romero hit the post from a corner. When referee Serdar Gözübüyük blew for halftime, the scoreboard showed 4-1. Both teams needed a moment to recover from a truly chaotic first half.
Spurs started the second half on the front foot, hoping for a comeback, but in the 55th minute that approach backfired. After a brilliant save by Jan Oblak from a Richarlison shot, Griezmann delivered a superb pass to Álvarez. With Spurs pushing high up the pitch, the Argentine sprinted clear from the own Atleti midfield. Romero tried to chase him down, but could not stop his compatriot from scoring again.
While many Spurs players seemed to lose belief after that, Pedro Porro and substitute Dominic Solanke kept fighting. Their efforts eventually paid off. After a rare mistake from Oblak at the back, Porro set up Solanke, who fired the ball into the roof of the net.
That proved to be the final goal of the night. For anyone who lost count, the match ended 5-2. A superb performance from Simeone’s side, who now look all but certain to reach the quarter finals.
Spurs will need a miracle at home next week after yet another heavy blow. All eyes will also be on Tudor, who has faced heavy criticism in the media following his remarkable early goalkeeper substitution. The question is whether the Croatian will remain on the London sidelines for much longer.
