Toby back in N17 for Atleti tie | OneFootball

Toby Alderweireld is back at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as our special guest for our UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday evening.

Supporters will hear from Toby ahead of the 8pm kick-off at 7.45pm when he will reminisce about some fantastic Spurs memories over six years with Paul Coyte.

One of our best defenders of the modern era, Toby was snapped up from Atletico Madrid in July, 2015, and formed a formidable central partnership with fellow Belgian Jan Vertonghen, the pair providing the backbone of our Champions League qualification in 2015/16 and our best defensive record in a Premier League campaign (26 goals conceded) on our way to second place in 2016/17.

Toby started both legs of the quarter-final, semi-final and then the final in our Champions League run of 2018/19. He went on to make 236 appearances in his six years at Spurs before starting a new chapter at Al-Duhail SC in Qatar.

And there was a footballing fairytale to follow. Signing for his home city club Royal Antwerp in 2022, Toby won the Belgian Cup in April 2023 and then, at the end of his first season, scored a 94th-minute equaliser to secure the club's first title for 66 years. The team then reached the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time the following season, 2023/24.

After winning 127 caps - in the top five all-time caps for De Rode Duivels, a list topped by Jan's 157 - and appearing in three World Cups, winning bronze in 2018, Toby announced his international retirement in 2023. At the end of last season, 2024/25, after 635 career appearances for Ajax, Southampton, Atletico Madrid, Al-Duhail and Royal Antwerp, Toby announced his retirement.

Speaking to us on his departure back in 2021, Toby reflected on his time in Lilywhite. “We conceded 26 goals in 2016/17, the best in the Club’s history, so maybe when I finish my career, I’ll look back at that as a very special time,” he reflected. “I was part of it as we wrote our names in Club history, great days.

“I’ve only good memories. There are not a lot of players who stay at a club for six years now. I’m always very loyal, always happy to play. I never talk about myself, but maybe now is the moment... I always did my best, and I hope people see that every time I stepped onto the pitch, I gave 100 per cent for the shirt.

“I always wanted to be part of the Club’s history and the Club will be with me forever.”