Igor Tudor urges Tottenham to adopt ‘different mentality’ in Champions League after dire run | OneFootball

Igor Tudor has acknowledged Tottenham's main priority is Premier League survival, but urged them to use the Champions League to switch momentum after a dire run of results.

Spurs are back at Atletico Madrid's Riyadh Air Metropolitano for the first time since they lost to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final and the north London club are mired in a relegation fight after an 11-match winless league run this year.

Already with an eight-player injury list, any further absentees could damage Tottenham's hopes of staying up and Tudor agreed when asked if Tuesday's last-16 first-leg tie was a free hit and a chance to try some new ideas.

“I agree with both things,” the former Juventus manager said. “As I said, focus on us, playing a team who has a story in this Champions League, what they have experienced, they have quality.

“We need to do our best in terms that we need to grow, as you said also because our first aim is the Premier League, this needs to be said publicly.

“This is a normal thing that this (Champions League) is something extra, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to pass to the next round.

“Of course, it's very important. It's important. We have to grow, so it can be an opportunity. A totally different mentality can be used in this kind of game. Maybe this can help us to see which problems we have.

“I believe that these kinds of games can help us to switch in the right way, but always focus on us, to grow as a team, to do things better and that's the point.”

This fixture is steeped in history for Tottenham with Metropolitano not only the venue where they suffered Champions League heartbreak, but the club's solitary meeting with Atletico was the triumphant Cup Winners' Cup final in 1963.

Fast forward to the present day and Spurs have reached their nadir of the 21st century, but Tudor will be boosted by the availability of captain Cristian Romero on Tuesday.

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Tottenham are in relegation form domestically but have performed better in Europe this season (Action Images/Reuters)

Tudor also confirmed Richarlison would start and believes he has started to make progress with fixing “old habits” in the squad.

“I saw that more the time has passed, the sessions are always better, there's more quality in everything, especially because important players are coming back in the team,” the Croatian pointed out.

“As I said before, lots of old habits sometimes take more time than you expected to change.”

Spurs right-back Pedro Porro backed the interim head coach whilst sat alongside him.

Porro's frustrated reaction to being substituted in Thursday's 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace went viral after he punched a chair.

But Porro insisted: “I just want to make it clear it was not about the manager. I am a player who gives it all on the pitch, 200 per cent, and we never like losing. It is just about that.

“Since I found out he was coming to the club, I knew he was going to be a manager that would help us a lot. All of the players know that we need to be on the right path with him.”

However, asked to clarify that the players do care amid this relegation battle, Porro said: “This is a tough situation but the important thing now that we are here is to focus on tomorrow's game.”