Atletico Madrid 5-2 Spurs, UEFA Champions League | Igor Tudor’s verdict | OneFootball

Igor Tudor said ‘it’s very difficult to explain’ reflecting on the first 22 minutes in Madrid as Atletico ran out 5-2 winners in the first leg of our Round of 16 tie in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night.

The damage was done inside 15 minutes. Atleti capitalised when both Antonin Kinsky and Micky van de Ven slipped over and Marcos Llorente (six minutes) and Antoine Griezmann (14) took advantage for 2-0. Seconds later, Kinsky’s attempted clearance went straight to Julian Alvarez, who walked the ball home for 3-0. Kinsky, in for his UCL debut, was replaced by Guglielmo Vicario, but it was soon 4-0 as Robin Le Normand bundled home from close range (22).

From there, the team recovered somewhat for a final 5-2 scoreline, with Pedro Porro firing low past Jan Oblak (4-1, 26 minutes) and Dominic Solanke smashing into the top corner (5-2, 76) between Alvarez’s second (5-1, 55).

Speaking to SPURSPLAY at the Metropolitano, Igor’s first thoughts were to the fans. “I need to apologise to the fans, to everyone. It’s incredibly difficult to explain, at least for the first 20 minutes, I've never seen in my life, things like this. It’s very strange to explain.

“I’m sorry for Toni also. I need to talk to him, to preserve him, to help him, to help the team. It was not a nice thing, but Toni understands. He's a very good goalkeeper, a very good guy.

“So, we need to stay together now, try to help each other in a difficult moment. It’s very difficult to explain, It's like everything is going wrong, even in the end, this headache with two players now (Cuti Romero and Joao Palhinha clashed heads late in the game), and we're going to see what we do for Liverpool - amazing, incredible things.”

Asked if he’d spoken to Toni, Igor added: “Of course, you understand everything. it's a big lesson. It has unfortunately happened in this big game. We need to be supportive. It's not even about him, it's about us. We need to keep working.”

The second leg of the Round of 16 tie is at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next Wednesday, 18 March (8pm UK).