Tottenham Hotspur faced a disastrous evening in Madrid as calamity struck early in their Champions League encounter, with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky being substituted after just 17 minutes.
Kinsky, making his return to the starting lineup under interim manager Igor Tudor for the first time since October, faltered dramatically with two critical errors that allowed Atletico Madrid to seize a commanding 3-0 advantage within the opening 15 minutes.
Spurs’ start was nothing short of chaotic, with multiple players struggling to maintain their footing. A defensive slip by Micky van de Ven compounded their woes, handing Atletico their second goal on a platter.
The nightmare for Kinsky began when he lost his footing while attempting a pass, leading to the first goal, and then completely misjudged a clearance, resulting in the third. Atletico’s scorers Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann, and Julian Alvarez were quick to exploit these blunders.
Reacting on TNT Sports, Ally McCoist commented on the first goal, stating, “It’s a disaster, an absolute disaster for the goalkeeper. I’m not sure if he had a change of heart mid-action or simply lost focus, but he paid the price, and Llorente showed no mercy with a beautiful finish.”
He further criticized, “That’s just horrific goalkeeping, absolutely horrific goalkeeping.”
Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky made two enormous errors inside 15 minutes on his Champions League debut for Tottenham
The dejected youngster was replaced by Guglielmo Vicario, who conceded inside a few minutes himself
After the third, commentator Darren Fletcher added: ‘You can’t come back from this if you’re Kinsky.
‘That’s on the manager, as much as it is on Kinsky. The last time I saw a goalie have a nightmare like that was [Loris] Karius for Liverpool. That affected him for a long time. I actually can’t believe what I’ve seen.’
Joe Hart added: ‘I’ve been trying to make sense of it. I’m heartbroken for the lad. I know it’s a tough school, Champions League, important game. Before the game, he [Tudor] had an opportunity to give us a reason why he had put him in goal.
‘Was he getting an opportunity tonight? Was he just filling the gloves for one game? That felt like the message given to him. I’m not making excuses for the lad. He’s had a horrible 14 minutes, the slip and that third goal was everything he didn’t want to happen.
‘I don’t even know what to say. I’ve seen the lot. I’m just heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken for the lad. This Tottenham team is all over the shop.’
Hart added at half-time: ‘My heart dropped. Kinsky just slipping, we’ve seen a lot of it tonight. Ruthless from Atletico Madrid. It was an awful start six minutes in.
‘His confidence had evaporated. It’s such a difficult pass, he gets it all wrong, left foot onto right foot. It broke my heart. He’s had a bad 14 minutes, even the stadium is feeling sorry for him. Tudor does not even acknowledge him. I’m flabbergasted at that.
‘Yes he’s had a bad moment. Has he done it on purpose? Of course he hasn’t. Stand by your team. Send a message. But he stands there and acts like nothing has happened.’
Steve McManaman added: ‘That’s man-management at its very, very worst. Three or four of the players try and hug him. That poor goalkeeper has had a terrible night after being chosen by his own manager, and for his manager to not even acknowledge him, to not go over and say, “sorry, don’t worry about it”, put his arm round him, do something to affect the situation, that is cold as cold can be.’
Vicario consoled his team-mate as they exchanged places on the sideline but he didn’t get off to a great start either.
Tottenham were 4-0 down within a few minutes after Robin Le Normand tipped the ball over the line.
The only team to concede four goals quicker in a Champions League match quicker was Dinamo Zagreb away at Real Madrid in 2011.
Mistakes are following Tottenham like a bad smell; Vicario had been dropped because he made two huge blunders against Crystal Palace in Spurs’ 3-1 defeat at home last Thursday.
Micky van de Ven also slipped to give away the second goal on a disastrous night for Spurs
Tudor had already lost his first three matches coming into the Champions League visit to Madrid and the performance is likely to end his reign in north London.
The only mitigation for Kinsky is that Spurs were mistake-addled all around at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Their players appeared to have inappropriate footwear for the occasion, with several slipping and losing their footing on the wet turf.
At one stage, Kevin Danso even checked his studs in bewilderment after taking a tumble.
