2026-03-11 11:27:35
Igor Tudor rued Tottenham’s lack of luck as they fell to a disastrous Champions League defeat against Atletico Madrid.
Spurs were beaten 5-2 by the Spanish side in Tuesday’s (10.03.26) last 16 first leg clash and the coach lamented his side’s misfortune following a catastrophic opening half-hour that saw the team fall 4-0 behind and goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky substituted off after two big errors.
Tudor told TNT Sports: “In moments like this we don’t need to comment or speak too much. Strange game, we give them three goals. We start good and then the problems killed us. Very strange, very unusual. It took our confidence that we started with. We had an opportunity to make it 4-2, then we conceded 5-1.
“We apologise to the fans, to everyone. Everything looks like it’s going wrong. Even at the end, two players going out. It looks like everything is going against us.”
Tudor was criticised for ignoring Kinsky as he was taken off and admits that it was, in retrospect, the wrong decision to give the Czech goalkeeper his Champions League debut in such a vital game.
The Tottenham interim boss said: “After you see what happened, is for sure the wrong decision, but it was for me the right decision to do, thinking before [the match] because the team [was] changing competition, it was the right moment to do [it].
“Unfortunately what happened, happened, so I changed the goalkeeper after 15 minutes. It’s not easy.
“We need to keep working, not speaking too much, focus on what we can do. It’s difficult to explain, it’s the first time I’ve seen this in my career. We need to win and stay positive.”
Tudor has now lost all four matches of his Spurs tenure and was non-committal when questioned about his future with the Premier League side embroiled in a relegation battle.
The Croatian coach said: “It’s not about me, to explain too much. We need to stay calm and less talking. Now is not the moment for big explanations. We stay calm and continue.”
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