Symbolic Victory
It does feel kind of appropriate that Spurs Men finally won a game under the interim manager and it didn't count for much in a results sense. But this team has been in desperate need of a morale boost, and the spirited European night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium fit the bill. We'll take it.
Now that the Champions League subplot of the season has concluded, attention shifts fully onto the fight for Premier League survival. Last weekend's unexpected point earned at Liverpool has kept Spurs' top-flight status in our own hands, and there is a crucial six-pointer against Nottingham Forest up next before another break in which to rest up and regroup.
In this issue: Atlético de Madrid recap | News from around the Lane
I think we could all use a breather from the roller coaster that has been Spurs Men's season, but as it turns out, Spurs Women will be holding down the fort on the stress front. This weekend starts a stretch of very difficult fixtures before their own international break, including league games against Manchester City and Arsenal and then the FA Cup quarter-final against Chelsea. Cool cool cool!
This is definitely the time to get behind our teams as a fanbase and give them the strength to get through to the end of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur
Champions League Round of 16 | Tottenham 3 - 2 Atlético de Madrid (5-7 on aggregate)
Kolo Muani 30', Simons 52' • (Pen) 90' | Álvarez 47', Hancko 75'
For the first time in a long time, it truly felt like the players were playing as a team. That deserves to be celebrated, even if it was all for naught in terms of progressing in the competition.
The unfortunate truth is that the first 15 minutes of the away leg decided the outcome of the tie. Three slips, three goals conceded. It was always going to be a race against time to overcome that early aggregate deficit, and although Spurs were able to score five goals across the remainder of the away leg and the home leg, it was still too little too late.
But rather than dwelling on being knocked out of European competition (which we won't return to for at least another season, if not longer), it's important to take stock of the positive developments, primarily in the attack:
- Randal Kolo Muani is looking sharper and more impactful with every game under Igor Tudor, a manager he has performed well under in the past.
- Xavi Simons showed up and scored two confident goals (albeit one a penalty) even though he's had limited minutes since Tudor arrived at the club.
- Archie Gray has become one of the team's most consistent players in the second half of the season, contributing an assist in this game.
We need these confident performances to continue into the remaining league fixtures, of course, but it means something that the players are finally working with each other, not against each other.
David Hytner
I don't want to dwell for long on the negatives of the Round of 16 tie, but it's worth acknowledging that Atléti had many factors working in their favor to reach the quarter-finals, from the intentional state of disrepair of their home ground pitch to some questionable officiating decisions and the lax attitude of the referee toward their time-wasting. Excuses don't change the aggregate result, but it's fair to say that we claimed the moral victory and not our opponents. I'd rather be supporting this chaotic but plucky Spurs team any day rather than a bunch of practitioners of the dark arts.
It's also important to reflect on how successful the league phase of the competition was for Spurs. The Champions League wasn't a total wash for us and included most of the rare positive performances under Thomas Frank. We also kept our European undefeated home streak alive with this second-leg win against Atléti, now up to 25 games in total. That's some of our dignity left intact this season, at least.
Missing out on European competition next season is a bit of a disaster for the club from a financial perspective, but it at least gives this young squad a chance to have more time together on the training pitch and less risk of fatigue/overuse injuries—both of which are desperately needed after two injury-plagued seasons in a row. It's time to play the long game and reframe the disappointment of being down to just three competitions as an opportunity to build a stronger team identity on the pitch and maintain fitness in a way we haven't been able to in years. Frankly, it will be a relief to (hopefully) not spend a third campaign in a row in a perpetual injury crisis.
With that Champions League post-mortem done, let's be all-in on the Premier League.
Notable & quotable:
• Archie Gray made his first Champions League assist.
• Mathys Tel made his first assist of the season in any competition.
• Callum Olusesi made his CL debut just one game after his Premier League debut.
• Lucas Bergvall and Destiny Udogie both returned from injury as substitutes in this game.
• In contrast to the PL, where we've had no penalties awarded, we were awarded three total over the course of the CL campaign (Xavi Simons converted two of them).
• Randal Kolo Muani ended as the top scorer in the CL for Spurs with four goals, including one brace.
• Igor Tudor appreciated the support from the home fans:
Yes, a beautiful sensation on the pitch. I really enjoyed it from the first to the last moment of the game. It was magical.
• Simons is already looking ahead to the next match:
Now, every game is a final for us. Not only Sunday, but it starts on Sunday and we have to keep this momentum. I think it's really good from tonight and we have to bring on Sunday that energy as well. If the energy, the passion and the desire to win is there, we will win.
News from around the Lane
• It's going to be Australia vs Japan in the Women's Asian Cup final, with three Spurs players involved (Clare Hunt for the Matildas, Tōko Koga and Maika Hamano for Nadeshiko Japan). Good luck to all of them!
• For the upcoming Men's international break, Tyrese Hall has earned his first senior call-up for Jamaica and will take part in their World Cup-qualifying playoff matches.
• The club confirmed that Guglielmo Vicario will undergo surgery on a hernia during the international break to minimize the number of games he misses. He is expected to return to the matchday squad within a month.
Up next:
March 21 | Spurs Women @ Manchester City
Team news — Amanda Nildén is available for selection after serving her one-game suspension last week; Clare Hunt, Tōko Koga, and Maika Hamano are still away at the Women's Asian Cup; Ella Morris is not available for this game, but could feature as early as next weekend against Arsenal.
March 22 | Spurs Men vs Nottingham Forest
Team news — João Palhinha is available after clearing concussion protocol; Dominic Solanke is questionable due to a minor hip problem.
I will close this issue with a photo of Toby Alderweireld and his winning smile. That's the energy we all need going into this weekend's matches!
COYS
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