Credit: Tung Manh Phan

Richie Mills

Wed 11 March 2026 9:10, UK

Tottenham Hotspur broke all kinds of unwanted records in their 5-2 drubbing by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Tottenham eased into the last 16 of the competition after coming fourth in the league phase under former boss Thomas Frank.

However, they were in for a rude awakening on Tuesday night after being thumped by Diego Simeone’s men in the first leg of this crunch Champions League tie.

That is now four straight defeats in all competitions for interim boss Igor Tudor, as pressure ramps up on the Croatian.

Tottenham’s European campaign was their sole source of positivity this season but that is evaporating before their eyes.

Tottenham break history again with Champions League drubbing

Tottenham had a nightmare start at Riyadh Air Metropolitano when Marcos Llorente scored in the sixth minute, followed by quickfire goals from Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez.

Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was hooked by Tudor after just 17 minutes as his two slips gifted goals to Llorente and Alvarez, while Micky van de Ven also lost his footing to tee things up nicely for Griezmann.

Kinsky’s early substitution made him the first starting keeper in Champions League history to be substituted for non-injury reasons within the first 20 minutes of a match.

And the bad records didn’t stop there.

This was Tottenham’s sixth consecutive loss in all competitions for the first time in the club’s 144-year history.

Moreover, according to Opta Joe, Atletico’s opening three goals against Tottenham is the earliest a side has ever been three goals ahead in a Champions League knockout stage encounter.

This was also the first time in Atletico’s Champions League history that they had scored four first-half goals, as Robin Le Normand added another in the 22nd minute, as per Opta Jose.

Pedro Porro pulled one back in the 26th minute before Alvarez restored Atletico’s four-goal cushion. And Dominic Solanke rounded off the scoring in the 76th minute on a sorry night for Spurs.

Tottenham have to move on from Igor Tudor

Tottenham’s embarrassing loss to Atletico may be the low point of this wretched Spurs season.

Tudor looks like a dead man walking; the players are scattered, divided, and seemingly leaderless, and the losses keep mounting.

The former Juventus boss talked a good game when he arrived but it is clear to see he is the wrong man at the wrong time for Tottenham.

His decision to substitute Kinsky has drawn sympathy for the Spurs keeper, with many now completely losing patience with Tudor.

Incidentally, talkSPORT report that Tottenham’s owners have been left “disillusioned” by Tudor’s lack of impact at the club since his arrival.

They add that the club will speak to the players to determine Tudor’s future at Tottenham as the owners consider pulling the plug on the 47-year-old.

Tottenham are away to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday. If they lose that, Tudor could be gone. And with the way things are going, Spurs have to find another manager now if they want to stay up.