Tottenham’s Champions League campaign is all but over after Antonin Kinsky’s error-strewn display proved the catalyst for a punishing 5-2 loss at Atletico Madrid to heighten scrutiny on Igor Tudor.
Tudor hinted he may experiment for the last-16 first leg given Premier League survival was the priority, but his decision to play 22-year-old goalkeeper Kinsky backfired in spectacular fashion.
Kinsky’s scuffed clearance contributed towards Marcos Llorente’s sixth-minute opener and after Micky van de Ven slipped to allow Antoine Griezmann to make it 2-0, a terrible start turned into a nightmare.
Van de Ven passed back to Kinsky and another miscued pass by the Czech keeper allowed Julian Alvarez to walk the ball in, before Tudor replaced the shell-shocked youngster in the 17th minute on a horror 13th appearance for the Premier League club.
Spurs went 4-0 down after 22 minutes when Robin Le Normand headed in before some spirit was shown as Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke scored in between another for Alvarez at the start of the second half.
The day had started with Tottenham fans serenading old boss Mauricio Pochettino on a flight to Madrid ahead of being invited to the match by Atletico and concluded with Tudor losing a fourth straight match to put the interim head coach on the brink after only 29 days.
