James Barker

Wed 18 March 2026 21:56, UK

Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 7-5 on aggregate against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, with Xavi Simons the pick of the Spurs bunch, and Pedro Porro enduring a rough night.

Spurs knew they had a lot of work to do after their disastrous first-leg tie last Tuesday, in which Diego Simeone’s side ran out 5-2 winners.

Igor Tudor took a lot of criticism for his decision to play and then drag off Antonin Kinsky that night, and he indeed went with Guglielmo Vicario in goal for the second leg.

Randal Kolo Muani gave Spurs hope of a comeback after half an hour, but an early second-half goal from Julian Alvarez put the tie firmly back in Atletico’s hands.

Xavi Simons scored twice in the second half but it still wasn’t enough for Tottenham, who despite winning 3-2 on the night, fell to a 7-5 aggregate defeat, marking the end of their Champions League hopes this season.

Xavi Simons put in encouraging performance vs Atletico Madrid

Questions over Simons’ Tottenham role have been asked recently, with his impressive cameo as a substitute against Liverpool providing food for thought as to whether he may be a better impact player.

However, Tudor included him from the start against Atletico on Wednesday, and the Dutchman certainly repaid the faith shown in him with an excellent display.

The 22-year-old scored a wonderful goal just seven minutes into the second half, curling a perfectly placed effort from around 22 yards into the far corner of the net.

It wasn’t just his goal that saw him stand above the rest in Lilywhites shirts against Atletico, as he was at the centre of everything Spurs did well in attack, and was a contributing in defence too.

Simons also converted from the penalty spot in the 91st minute to give Tottenham the faintest of hopes of a dramatic finish to the game, but it wasn’t to be.

However, he can most certainly hold his head extremely hight, as this was a real statement display from Simons that will hopefully mark the beginning of a strong run of form between now and the end of the season.

Pedro Porro was hugely frustrating for Tottenham vs Atletico

One player who had far from his best game in a Tottenham shirt on Wednesday night was Pedro Porro.

The 26-year-old was Spurs’ best player in the first leg at the Metropolitano, scoring a goal and providing an assist in the 5-2 loss, but he was nowhere near that same standard in the second leg.

Operating at right wing-back, Porro endured a wasteful performance in attack, recording a passing accuracy of 58 per cent and having given the ball away 15 times, as per Sofascore.

He also played zero key passes, his three cross attempts were inaccurate, made just five carries with the ball, and made zero defensive contributions.

Porro won just two of his ground duels, made zero recoveries, clearances, interceptions or won any tackles against Atletico either.

In short, in was simply a highly disappointing and ineffective evening from the Spaniard, who Tottenham are going to need a lot more from in the coming weeks.

Tottenham player ratings

Guglielmo Vicario – 6

Micky van de Ven – 5

Cristian Romero – 6

Radu Dragusin – 5

Pedro Porro – 5

Archie Gray – 7

Pape Sarr – 6

Djed Spence – 5

Mathys Tel – 5

Xavi Simons – 9

Randal Kolo Muani – 7

Subs

Destiny Udogie (for Dragusin, 66) – 5

Lucas Bergvall (for Porro, 73) – 6

Conor Gallagher (for Gray, 81) – N/A

Callum Olusesi (for Tel, 81) – N/A

Kevin Danso (for Romero, 81) – N/A