Igor Tudor is hoping Tottenham can build on Sunday’s battling 1-1 draw at Liverpool when they host Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie tomorrow night.
Spurs capitalised on Liverpool’s profligacy in front of goal to snatch a late draw at Anfield, Richarlison scoring at the Kop end to salvage a share of the spoils.
The result left Spurs one point above the Premier League relegation zone but interim boss Tudor says it must be the start of a better run of form.
“Of course, it is important when you give a good performance to confirm the good will, and to start to change things,” he said. “The players really care, they want to do well.
“It is not easy to start to move things, but this is one good game. If you are honest on the pitch, football will give you it back. Now we need to continue in this direction.”
It certainly won’t be easy against Atletico having lost the first leg 5-2 in Spain, thanks largely to a catastrophic opening 22 minutes in which they conceded four times with Tudor taking off goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky for his part in two of them.
Spurs’ overall performance was not too bad and they can perhaps take heart from the fact Atletico’s once water-tight defence under Diego Simeone has shown leaks this season.
They have conceded 16 goals in their last nine games in all competitions and Tudor insists all is not yet lost.
“It is difficult but not impossible,” he added. “We need to stay in the game, focus on our strengths. Everything is still to play for, believing we can do it is the important thing from the start.
“Our first thing is to stay in the [Premier] league, but tomorrow is a big challenge to show we can do good things, that they are not better than us.”
Atleti do come into the game on the back of a clean sheet, however, Nahuel Molina’s goal earning them a 1-0 win over Getafe on Saturday.
Team news for Tottenham v Atletico Madrid
Cristian Romero will return after missing the game at Liverpool after a nasty clash of heads with team-mate Joao Palhinha in the first leg. Palhinha is still not ready, though, and won’t be involved.
Destiny Udogie and Lucas Bergvall have returned to training and will be on the bench while Conor Gallagher will be a gametime decision due to illness.
Richarlison is suspended.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak is out with a muscle strain for Atleti, so Juan Musso will start. Rodrigo Mendoza (ankle) is injured and fellow midfielder Pablo Barrios (thigh) is a doubt.
