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Tottenham Hotspur picked up a long-awaited first win under Igor Tudor, but a Xavi Simons brace wasn’t enough to turn around their UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 tie against Atlético Madrid, as a 3-2 home victory saw Spurs eliminated 7-5 on aggregate.
Atletico thought they had killed off any hopes of a Tottenham comeback just six minutes in, when Ademola Lookman tapped in a drilled Giuliano Simeone ball across goal, only for the offside flag to deny him.
Spurs were enjoying the majority of the early possession, but a pair of daisy-cutters from Mathys Tel was all that forced Juan Musso into action in the opening quarter of the match, during which Cristian Romero had to be perfectly placed to intercept a cutback in the six-yard box to deny Lookman a tap-in that would have counted.
There was still a mountain to climb for Spurs, but just before the 30-minute mark, the home side did get the breakthrough with the work of Tel, whose cross from the right was perfect for Randal Kolo Muani to head past the rooted Musso.
Diego Simeone’s side had no answer to Tel, who was played in by Simons five minutes later, and only an expert save from Musso denied him.
However, Tottenham’s hard work was almost undone just before half-time, when Romero deflected a thunderous Simeone effort that Guglielmo Vicario palmed away to keep the tie alive.
But there was nothing Vicario could do less than two minutes after the restart, when a Colchoneros break from deep in their own half resulted in Lookman squaring to Julian Alvarez, who was afforded space inside the area to turn and fire into the top corner. Yet, if their first home UCL goal conceded was meant to kill off the comeback, Spurs had other ideas, as Archie Grey won the ball just five minutes later and combined brilliantly with Simons, who curled a 25-yarder beyond Musso and into the bottom corner.
At the hour mark, only an outstretched hand from Musso denied Porro from cutting the aggregate deficit to one.
Despite being beaten on five of their previous six trips to England though, the Spaniards wouldn’t crumble, and Alvarez was thwarted by Vicario from close range before the Italian tipped his free-kick over the bar.
From the resulting corner, Alvarez picked out David Hancko at the near post, and he nodded in a simple leveller.
That goal finally settled the tie, but there was still a chance for Tottenham to win it on the night, as Jose Maria Gimenez sent Simons tumbling inside the area.
That allowed the Dutchman to roll the penalty past Musso to give his side a first win in nine outings, while Atleti – albeit inconsequentially – have now won just one of their last seven UCL away games.
