Summary

  • Pressure mounts on interim manager Igor Tudor after Tottenham are beaten 5-2 by Atletico Madrid in action-packed Champions League last-16 first leg at the Metropolitano

  • Spurs concede four in 14 minutes in the first half but recover in second half to keep tie alive

  • Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was replaced in the 17th minute after two errors

  • Defender Micky Van de Ven says the defeat was a "doomsday scenario" and that Spurs' form has been "really rough" to deal with

  • Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson says Tudor's decision was "selfish" and "it will be soul-destroying for Kinsky", while Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel says the substitution has "destroyed Kinsky's career"

  • Atletico manager Diego Simeone says he had "never seen anything like it" before

  • Is Tudor's Spurs reign almost up after only four games? asks chief football writer Phil McNulty

  • Get Involved: Send us your thoughts after another nightmare night for Tottenham

Send us your views

  1. Recap: Pressure continues to build on Tudorpublished at 15:27 GMT 11 March

    We've covered practically every angle of what's going on at Tottenham today, so let's do a round-up of all the main talking points.

  2. get involved

    Get Involved - 'Hoddle knows the club'published at 15:26 GMT 11 March

    Click 'Get Involved' to have your say

    Ryan Mason has no relationship with the current players. If somebody who knows the club is needed, then Glenn Hoddle is the person. Loves the club, excellent coach, master tactician.

    Andrew, Harrogate

  3. 'Spurs players not playing for the manager'published at 15:25 GMT 11 March

    Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham

    Paul Robinson
    Former Tottenham goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live

    Tottenham go to Liverpool at the weekend, every single game now is huge for Tottenham. Their priority is to stay in the Premier League.

    Last night was all about performance. The criticism is of the performance rather than the result. The Champions League is irrelevant to Tottenham, they're not going to win the Champions League, let's be honest about it.

    Premier League survival is apparent to Tottenham, but what I saw last night, the attitude and application were not there. They were not playing for the manager.

  4. get involved

    Get Involved - 'Who would want this toxic job?'published at 15:15 GMT 11 March

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    Who would want that toxic job? All well and good having a great stadium, but without ANY cohesion in the team, Spurs are going down. Only 3 of the 9 games left offer hope. Manager Tudor does NOT. Need Southgaye next season 100%...

    Carolyn, Sussex

    57 years a Spurs fan, no respect for Tudor. Spurs need a charismatic leader, not a selfish bully. I see no passion at the club anymore, most don’t respect or play for the badge. Very, very sad.

    Richard, Wetherby

  5. Who could Spurs call upon?published at 15:08 GMT 11 March

    Tottenham Hotspur

    Mauricio Pochettino, centre, watching Tottenham play at Atletico MadridImage source, Getty Images

    Where might Tottenham look if they did decide to replace Igor Tudor as interim manager? Here are some of the names that have been linked with a return to Spurs:

    • Ryan Mason - the former Spurs midfielder previously stepped up as the club's interim head coach in both 2021 and 2023, overseeing 13 games in the Premier League, before being appointed as assistant coach to Ange Postecoglou. Mason ended his seven-year coaching career at Spurs last summer to take over at West Brom, but he was sacked by the Championship club in January.
    • Tim Sherwood - the former Tottenham boss, speaking on Sky Sports,, external said he could do a short-term stint as the club's head coach to help guide them out of trouble.
    • Mauricio Pochettino - another former Spurs manager who was said to be a candidate to permanently replace Thomas Frank, but his contract with the United States men's national team does not expire until after this summer's World Cup
    • Harry Redknapp - the 79-year-old is one former Spurs manager who appears to have ruled himself out of contention. "I won't [take the job] - I don't expect to get a call," Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 Live. "My focus this week is enjoying myself at Cheltenham."
    • Robbie Keane - the former Tottenham striker was reported to be interested, external in the job before the club appointed Igor Tudor in February.
  6. get involved

    Get Involved - 'Replacing Tudor would be a massive gamble'published at 14:58 GMT 11 March

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    Replacing Tudor now would be a massive gamble, whoever replaced him. The club's in such chaos, another change could easily add to that. The decline under Frank can't be reversed in the available time, it looks like the players' heads have gone.

    Michael, London

  7. Tudor 'adding fuel to the fire' - Sherwoodpublished at 14:48 GMT 11 March

    Some Tottenham fans have called upon former player and manager Tim Sherwood to be put in charge of the team until the end of the season.

    He has accused current interim boss Igor Tudor of "adding fuel to the fire" with regards to the club's predicament, as they fall closer towards the Premier League relegation zone.

    Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Sherwood said: "He hasn't given the players a lift at all. He's a firefighter who has a can of petrol in his hand - he's adding fuel to the fire rather than restoring confidence to the players."

  8. Spurs 'not playing for the manager'published at 14:39 GMT 11 March

    Harry Poole
    BBC Sport reporter

    Among the factors which led to Igor Tudor's appointment, Tottenham admired his work improving teams on a short-term basis - including at Italian giants Juventus.

    Tudor was given the Juventus job on a permanent basis after achieving Champions League football with a run of just one defeat in nine at the end of the 2024-25 season.

    But he has so far failed to have any such impact in north London.

    Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tudor "was not the right appointment from the start".

    "We talk about a new manager bounce, when a new manager comes in and the players react and they get one or two results. That's what Tottenham were looking for," Robinson said.

    "For Tottenham, it's the wrong person at the wrong time. You saw the performance of the players. The minimum requirement is maximum effort.

    "The attitude and application was not there. They were not playing for the manager."

    Tottenham results under Igor Tudor
  9. Where do Tottenham go from here?published at 14:34 GMT 11 March

    With interim manager Igor Tudor struggling to improve the club's fortunes, and little evidence of progress, is there anyone else Spurs could realistically call upon to rescue their season?

    This is the question we have been considering in this page over the past few hours.

    Just 10 months after winning the Europa League, Tottenham sit one point above the relegation places with nine games remaining.

    "In footballing terms, this is an absolute crisis that Tottenham are in," commentator John Murray said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

    It is the need to avoid an unthinkable first relegation from the top flight since 1977 which will inform the club's next steps.

    BBC Sport reporter Harry Poole has been looking into where Tottenham go from here...

    Tottenham clock and Igor Tudor imageImage source, Getty Images
  10. get involved

    Get Involved - 'Southgate could take Spurs to a better level''published at 14:31 GMT 11 March

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    Spurs last night reminded me of England in 2016 when they lost to Iceland. Plenty of talented individuals all running about like headless wingless chickens. Gareth Southgate took England to a better level and could do that at Spurs.

    Steve, London

  11. get involved

    Get Involved - 'It's time fans heard from the leadership'published at 14:27 GMT 11 March

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    It’s time the fans heard from the highly paid and largely new leadership. Levy never spoke to the fans - time for a change! Why did they hire Frank? Why did they wait so long to fire Frank? Why did they hire Tudor? Who else did they consider? What now?

    Steve, Richmond

  12. get involved

    Get Involved - 'Majority of players thinking about next move'published at 14:22 GMT 11 March

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    It doesn't matter who Spurs bring in, you can't get control of a dressing room where the majority of players are already thinking about their next move. They have given up, knowing that there will be relatively little damage to their reputation and that they will be sold if Spurs go down.

    Matt, Cardiff

    Matt got in touch before we published that interview with Micky van de Ven, but clearly his overall feelings towards the Tottenham players is not a positive one...

  13. Postpublished at 14:19 GMT 11 March

    Craig Nelson
    BBC Sport reporter

    What do you think about Micky van de Ven's quotes?

    He says Spurs were hit by a "doomsday scenario" in Madrid, are going through a "really terrible period" and he is "completely done" with his phone - presumably staying off it to avoid reading criticism about the team and his own performances...

  14. Van de Ven says Atletico defeat was 'doomsday scenario'published at 14:07 GMT 11 March

    Van de VenImage source, Getty Images

    Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven spoke to Dutch outlet Ziggo Sport after last night's defeat in Madrid.

    The defender, who slipped before Atletico Madrid's second goal, said the first 20 minutes of the match in Spain was a "doomsday scenario". The Netherlands international then admitted the club's recent form has been "rough" to deal with and that he avoids looking at his phone.

    Full transcript

    Interviewer: How did you find this match, man?

    Van de Ven: Yeah, terrible. I'll be completely honest with you, it's actually a doomsday scenario, everything that could go wrong in the first 20 minutes went wrong. I can't really say much more about it.

    Interviewer: That first quarter of an hour, what on earth happened? The pitch was sliding terribly. The goalkeeper, that's just bad luck of course.

    Van de Ven: Yeah, like you said, everyone's slipping. I slipped myself too, you know. Those are moments where you just really can't do anything about it. But I can't really stand here and start blaming the field. You kind of know what I mean? So for our goalkeeper (Kinsky) it's terrible as well of course, because he's making his debut, so you don't wish that on anyone. For the rest, yeah, what can I say? For 15 minutes we just conceded goals that you really can't do anything about. Again, I can't go blaming the field here, so yeah, that was just really tough.

    Interviewer: Football can be the greatest sport in the world, right. But yeah, now you're stuck in this weird flow. How do you get out of it? Yeah, maybe you'd say 'get the group together straight away', but are there other things you can think of? You're a bit older now, a bit more experienced.

    Van de Ven: Yeah, that's really hard to say, because you could just come out here and give the standard talk about how 'we all need to stick together and work hard', but right now we're just taking blow after blow after blow. So it's just really tough. And now we also have an important match this weekend that I won't be able to play in because I'm suspended of course. But yeah, it's a really terrible period, I can tell you that. It's really, really awful, man.

    Interviewer: How are you doing mentally yourself?

    Van de Ven: It's rough, I can tell you that, really rough. So like I said, I have to keep going. It's part of it, that's life and we'll see what's coming.

    Interviewer: I'd say avoid your phone a little.

    Van de Ven: I'm not on my phone anymore. I'm completely done with it. Just my family. So it'll be fine. Take it easy, man. Thank you, yeah.

  15. 'There's no team spirit at Spurs'published at 14:05 GMT 11 March

    Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham

    Chris Waddle
    Former Tottenham winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

    This does not seem like a place that Igor Tudor can rescue Spurs from. But who can?

    It was a horrible game but Tottenham are such an easy team to play against. They do not look like they want to wear the shirt and there is no team spirit.

    If you have no confidence, then do not play. That is what you are paid for - to create and do things, and work hard.

    Spurs huddleImage source, Getty Images
  16. 'Attitude and application not there for Tottenham'published at 14:02 GMT 11 March

    Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham

    Paul Robinson
    Former Tottenham goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live

    Tottenham have a huge injury list, but so do other clubs. That is not an excuse.

    The minimum requirement is maximum effort and Spurs did not even look like they knew which way they were playing.

    It is about attitude and application and that is just not there at Tottenham.

  17. Van de Ven quotes to come....published at 14:00 GMT 11 March

    Craig Nelson
    BBC Sport reporter

    One talking point that has not been fully addressed today in this page has been the role the current crop of players have played in Tottenham's stuttering form.

    Coming up we have the views of former players Paul Robinson and Chris Waddle on this topic.

    And we also have some interesting comments from current centre-back Micky van de Ven, from an interview he gave with a Dutch TV station on Tuesday night...

  18. 'Spurs owners have to think very seriously about selling'published at 13:57 GMT 11 March

    Speaking before Wednesday night's defeat by Atletico Madrid, former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega told BBC World Service that he has held talks with a consortium interested in buying the club.

    The Swiss, who spent four years in north London between 1997 and 2001, says the club are suffering because of "neglect".

    “I played for the club, I won something for the club, I know what the club is all about, I know what the fans are all about and their passion," said Vega."They all want, of course, to win something and the good of the club. The frustrating side, when you look from the outside, there are years of neglection of recruitment. The football side was pretty much put aside. They have no forward thinking recruitment strategy in place. They have all these injuries (but) they’re not spending in the January market to get extra players for these five or six months and now, most likely might be very costly if it goes that direction we don’t want.

    “For all what the savings they’ve done in the past, and created a business around football but not with football and that now is going to be potentially the problem and the fans are going to be the ones paying for it because they’re one of the most expensive tickets in the Premier League. Now, they’re mostly thinking to potentially watch them in the Championship.

    “The owners have to think very seriously. Sell it to somebody who really wants to be building up a football club or invest into it.”

    Ramon VegaImage source, Getty Images
  19. Postpublished at 13:55 GMT 11 March

    Craig Nelson
    BBC Sport reporter

    Former Tottenham players are not only being linked with the manager's role, one ex-defender says he has been involved in talks with a consortium interested in buying the club...

  20. get involved

    Get Involved - Who would you like to replace Tudor at Spurs?published at 13:52 GMT 11 March

    Click 'Get Involved' to have your say

    Spurs should go for a past manager or player that the fans can get behind. Redknapp, Sherwood, Poch (similar to Blackburn with O'Neill). And then they need to fight like hell because otherwise they are going down. Big Sam would do a job but the fans would revolt.

    Simon, Manchester

    Spurs should bring in Ryan Mason until the end of the season. It might not work but at least someone with a connection and past with the club might be able to inspire something. More than they have right now.

    John, Essex

    Ryan MasonImage source, Getty Images