Atletico Madrid comfortably defeated Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Estadio Metropolitano, with a final score of 5-2, in a match that was marred by huge errors by the visitors’ goalkeeper, who was substituted in the first half. Julian Alvarez scored a brace in the match, and Diego Simeone’s side secured a positive position in the competition’s quarter-finals.

Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur faced off in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 at the Estadio Metropolitano, in a moment that found the two teams at the end of two diametrically opposed paths. The “rojiblancos” team overcame Club Brugge in the play-offs of the continental competition with a score of 7-4 on aggregate, while the English team finished in fourth place in the league phase of the current European season. Domestically, the LaLiga team was ranked on the last step of the podium, having recently qualified for the “Copa del Rey” final. Atletico Madrid were undefeated, before this duel, on home soil, in the knockout stages of the “stars” competition since Diego Simeone took over the “rojiblancos” team.

On the other hand, Spurs had tied three wins in a row in the league phase this season, and, in the event of achieving success on the field of the band from the capital of Spain, the English could have ticked off an unprecedented performance. Diego Simeone could not count on the services of Rodrigo Mendoza at the time of this match, while the London team was faced with a list of 10 absences. The only direct duel between the two teams had taken place in the 1962/1963 season, when Tottenham Hotspur managed to prevail with the unbelievable score of 5-1.

The good news that Igor Tudor received before this duel on the continental level was the return to the team of some important pieces from the defensive compartment, more precisely, Kevin Danso, Radu Drăgușin and Cristian Romero. Most recently, Atletico Madrid narrowly won in LaLiga, with a final score of 3-2, in the company of Real Sociedad, while the Londoners lost at home to Crystal Palace. The opening goal at the “Estadio Metropolitano” came from Marcos Llorente, after the Spanish midfielder received a pass from Julian Alvarez, who took advantage of an error committed by Antonin Kinsky.

The man in the center of the field of the team trained by “Cholo” took the pass and completed without much trouble, from close range. Then, another error committed in the defensive compartment of the Spurs was capitalized on by Antoine Griezmann, who completed with great composure, past the Czech goalkeeper of the guests. Antonin Kinsky “buried” his team a few sequences later, when he “missed the ball”, literally, and Julian Alvarez fulfilled a simple formality, scoring with an empty net. Igor Tudor didn’t think twice and sent Guglielmo Vicario on, dissatisfied with the performance of the goalkeeper who had started the match as the starter.

The fourth goal was scored a few minutes later, when Robin Le Normand took advantage of an erroneous clearance from Guglielmo Vicario, and the Spanish central defender headed home from close range, the validation of the success coming after the referee decided that the ball had crossed the opponent’s goal line. Tottenham Hotspur reduced the handicap on the scoreboard, at the end of a counterattack, Pedro Porro shooting accurately, to the far corner, beating Jan Oblak, without the Slovenian goalkeeper being able to intervene, and in less than 30 minutes, five goals had been scored in this confrontation.

Tottenham Hotspur missed a huge chance in the second half when Micky Van de Ven headed a dangerous shot from a few metres out, but Jan Oblak blocked it. Later, on the counterattack, Julian Alvarez “made the move”, managing to score with a shot placed in the far corner that did not give the visitors’ Italian goalkeeper much hope. Pablo Barrios returned to the pitch about 20 minutes before the final whistle of the game, when he replaced Ademola Lookman, and his return to the pitch was applauded by the home team’s supporters in the open stage.

Tottenham Hotspur reduced the score in the 76th minute of the game, when another error committed by a goalkeeper, this time by Jan Oblak, was immediately speculated by Dominic Solanke, the London team’s striker, who, from a few metres out, did not miss.

Thanks to this positive result, Atletico Madrid has a serious chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, while Spurs have categorically reduced their prospects of advancing in the “stars” competition. In the next rounds of the domestic championships, the “rojiblancos” group will play at home in the company of Getafe, while Igor Tudor’s students will face Liverpool.