Atletico are running in the same place where Tottenham destroyed themselves in the first leg
Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur
The talk is that Atletico Madrid could not have dreamed of a better start to their Champions League clash with Tottenham Hotspur, but the truth is in Diego Simeone’s dreams, his side would have shown more quality to put themselves ahead before the 23rd minute.
Los Rojiblancos were quick out of the blocks, pressing high and hoping to force mistakes from Spurs in the first half. After two promising leads, a mistake came from Antonin Kinsky after just six minutes. His slip gave the ball to Ademola Lookman, who passed it to Julian Alvarez, who laid it to Marcos Llorente, who fired into the far corner to increase the volume at the Metropolitano.
Eight minutes later, the fever came. Llorente found a foot to flick the ball back to Micky van de Ven, who also slipped. Antoine Griezmann was on it this time, and he teed up Kevin Danso, before slotting it into the near corner, continuing his excellent form. A minute later, Kinsky missed the ball. Alvarez managed to run in to make it 3-0 after 15 minutes, leaving Tottenham completely stunned. Manager Igor Tudor responded, replacing Guglielmo Vicario with Kinsky.
The referee needs to explain this. pic.twitter.com/rvbCpuQgYf
– Atlético Universe (@atletiuniverse) March 10, 2026
The Italian shot-stopper was called into action five minutes later, clearing Griezmann’s free-kick, but Robin Le Normand was on hand to nod home the rebound, as the Metropolitano went up in glee. At that point, it felt like the game was in danger of getting out of hand. Diego Simeone will no doubt feel that his team has lost focus, because in the 27th minute Spurs put together their second good move of the game. Richarlison slipped down the left back, and managed to return the ball to Pedro Porro in the back of the box. He sold Matteo Ruggeri with a delayed first touch, and with the space created, fired past Jan Oblak into the far corner.
The last 15 minutes of the half saw Cristian Romero’s header from a corner, and after Ruggeri pulled the ball down in the penalty area, Llorente wasted a wonderful, off-balance chance to score the second. It was a puzzle for the first 27 minutes, it was difficult for the players to get excited.
Atletico Madrid came out on top with three goals
What opportunities did Spurs get to make the game look like it was going to leave the field in the 55th minute. Richarlison was denied by a brilliant Oblak save. From the resulting clearance, Griezmann’s sweet touch sent Alvarez clear into space, unopposed and 60 yards on the run. Bringing down the goal, Alvarez showed the composure that has been lacking since his season, and stroked Vicario’s fifth.
Simeone, aware of the difficulty of staying focused, appeared to say at the time, adding a fifth defender. It was Oblak who let Atletico down though, giving the ball away with 15 minutes to go. Dominik Solanke benefited from a mistake this time, scoring a second for Spurs.
It was the end of the scoring, and the end of the game brought a difficult analysis. Simeone will be happy with his team’s performance, the pressure they put under Tottenham, and their desire to press this team. However, when the final whistle came, Spurs scored two of the last three goals, and the celebrations quieted down a bit. Four of the seven goals came from mistakes that were not in the Champions League. Three is the gap between the sides, and Simeone will rest easy because of that.
