A 2-0 lead might be the most dangerous lead in soccer, as the cliché goes, but a 3-0 lead seems to come with a sense of finality, if this week’s UEFA Champions League results are anything to go by. Four teams entered the second leg of the round of 16 with a three-goal deficit, and so far, only Sporting Lisbon were able to turn it around and send Bodo/Glimt packing, titans like Manchester City and Chelsea falling to Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively. The comeback tale rests solely on Tottenham Hotspur’s shoulders on Wednesday, another weighty moment awaiting a team in a moment of crisis.
By the time the final whistle was blown at Atletico Madrid last week, Spurs had dug themselves into a massive hole. They were down 5-2 on aggregate, conceding four of those goals in the opening half hour, making for a grand total of 14 goals against in four games since coach Igor Tudor took charge. The result did not just write off their Champions League hopes, but added another layer of worry to the team’s form overall, Spurs unexpectedly in the midst of a relegation battle in the Premier League with few redeeming qualities in sight, and in desperate need of something to go their way.
It finally did on Sunday with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool, an unglamorous point that means more to a relegation-threatened side than their counterparts higher up the table. They benefitted from the Reds’ incredible ability to misfire despite creating genuine goalscoring opportunities; Spurs’ understaffed defense was easy to carve up without the injured Cristian Romero and the suspended Micky van de Ven. A few redeeming qualities that Spurs have lacked this season, though, actually turned up at Anfield – a determination to grind out a result was on display after weeks of looking like the human personification of brain fog.
How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. Atletico Madrid, odds
- Date: Wednesday, March 18 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — London, England
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Tottenham Hotspur +135; Draw +280; Atletico Madrid +175
The approach was born out of a forced tactical change, with Conor Galalgher’s illness throwing a wrench in his plans. Tudor went from his preference of a back three to a back four set-up at Liverpool, then opting for a midfield featuring Archie Gray and Pape Matar Sarr while teenager Souza played further up the right flank as a winger.
“We were preparing one training session with Conor in the middle, and other solutions, but we needed to change today,” Tudor said after the draw at Anfield. “it was a system, it was a team putting in without training, let’s say, two, three positions were changed, because it totally happened like this, you know, you prepare two trainings, then in the morning the team you didn’t prepare, because someone is out, so this, again, to repeat, is even more value of this victory to the guys.”
Tudor’s approach was also simplistic, reminiscent of a team at the bottom of the table that needs tangible points much more than style points. Rudimentary as it may be, it remains a tried-and-true strategy for teams that are far closer to the relegation zone than they would like.
It makes Spurs’ determination to get the result, then, more noteworthy. Richarlison, the oft-injured striker, led the charge in an improved attacking performance from the team – he took five shots of his own and generated 0.92 expected goals, his last-gasp equalizer a fair reward for his work. It may be a small win – Tottenham have not won since taking home a 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in January to close out the league phase, and are still waiting for their first Premier League win in the new year.
It does force a new question, though: Which version of Spurs will show up on Wednesday against Atleti, especially as a massive task awaits them?
Gallagher’s illness will keep him out of the fixture against his former club, but Tudor will have more options available to him. Romero and van de Ven are back in the mix, while Destiny Udogie and Lucas Bergvall will be available after weeks away through injury. The first two offer improved defensive resilience, while all four can add a different dimension to Spurs’ attacking operation. It remains to be seen if Tudor will use that more simplistic approach even with a different set of players available to him, though ex-coach Ange Postecoglou used the approach at times en route to the UEFA Europa League title last season.
A comeback is still unlikely in these circumstances – a perfect game is needed, and Spurs are not in a position to really execute a game plan that would require that type of performance. Finding a way to redeem themselves after last week’s showing, though, is still very much on the table and remains the primary objective; more important tasks await them this season.
