Atlético Madrid travel to Tottenham Hotspur carrying a massive 5-2 advantage from the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in the UEFA Champions League and looking to seal their progress to the quarterfinals.
Spurs, lifted by their performance against Liverpool in the weekend, could prove a different proposition to the one Atléti ran roughshod over in Madrid, but is a 3-goal deficit a mountain too high for the beleaguered Londoners to climb?
Here’s everything you need to know about the match:
How to watch
The match will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 in the UK, Paramount+ in the U.S., SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live updates.
Key Details
Kick-off time: Wednesday, March 18 at 8 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET; 1.30 a.m. IST and 6 a.m. AEDT, Thursday)
Venue: Tottenham stadium, London
Referee: Daniel Siebert (GER)
VAR: Daniel Schlager (GER)
Team news
Tottenham
Dejan Kulusevski, M: OUT, knee, est. return early May
Wilson Odobert, F: OUT, ACL, est. return early July
Destiny Udogie, D: OUT, muscle, est. return unknown
Ben Davies, D: OUT, ankle, est. return mid April
James Maddison, M: OUT, ACL, est. return early May
Lucas Bergvall: M: OUT, leg, est. return late April
Rodrigo Bentancur, M: OUT, hamstring, est. return mid April
Mohammed Kudus, F: OUT, muscle, est. return mid April
Connor Gallagher, M: DOUBT, illness
Cristian Romero, D: DOUBT, concussion
Palhinha, M: DOUBT, concussion
Yves Bissouma, M: OUT, muscle, est. return early April
Atletico Madrid
Rodrigo Mendoza, M: OUT, ankle, est. return late April
Jan Oblak, GK: OUT, muscle, est. return late March
Pablo Barrios, M: OUT, thigh, est return early April
Talking Points
Can Spurs pull off an all-timer of a comeback?
The simple, straightforward answer ought to be no. The only game of five that Igor Tudor hasn’t lost as Spurs boss came this weekend — a spirited draw at Anfield. As positive as that result and that point was, though, there was also an element of just how underwhelming Liverpool were (and have been recently) — and in the first leg, Atlético Madrid were everything Liverpool weren’t: sharp, intense, ruthless and committed.
Diego Simeone’s new-fangled expansive football combined with Spurs sloppiness has opened up a three-goal advantage that would take some surpassing, especially if Simeone decides to revert to type and squeeze the life out of the game with a solid wall of red-and-white in front of the ball.
Of course, anything is possible, but the problem is that Tudor’s and Spurs’ priorities may lay elsewhere this season.
Will Spurs rest players for the crunch match against Nottingham Forest?
This may sound strange, but could a Premier League team rest their best players in the second leg of a Champions League knockout tie to be able to put their best foot forward in … a relegation 6-pointer? For this is most likely a lost cause and the league’s relegation permutations may go down to the wire. As it stands, Spurs are 16th (30 points) while next weekend’s opponents Nottingham Forest are 17th (29 points) with the last relegation spot being taken up by West Ham United (29 points). A win there could well be more critical for Spurs — from a purely pragmatic point of view — than mounting a very unlikely challenge for European glory.
This is, of course, limited by the number of senior players available for Tudor: but should he play or rest the likes of Cristian Romero and Palhinha who are concussion doubts for the match or indeed Richarlison who ran his socks off at Anfield before grabbing the late, late equaliser.
Also, Atlético will be fresh
That’s because Diego Simeone rested almost all of his first team for the narrow 1-0 win against Getafe this weekend — leaving the likes of Julián Álvarez, Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman, Giuliano Simeone and Diego Llorente on the bench and subbing them on only for the last twenty-five minutes or so. Sure, they have a big game of their own coming up — next weekend is the Madrid derby against Real Madrid — but Simeone will likely put his best foot forward early to well and truly snuff out any chances of a comeback
Alvarez can claw back the deficit in the golden boot race
We are at a stage in the tie where some Atlético players might even be looking at some personal milestones. Julian Alvarez, for example, is currently the fourth highest scorer in the Champions League this season with 7 goals. He is, though, six goals behind the rampant Kylian Mbappé and there cannot be a better chance for the Argentine to hunt down the superstar from across town.
He scored a brace (and had an assist) in the first leg, and against a Spurs side that has looked even shakier at home than away this season, he’ll fancy his chances of cutting down on that considerable gap.
What do the numbers say?
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Atletico have won 10 of their 14 UEFA two-legged ties against English clubs (even if they have lost two of their last three), while Tottenham have lost all four of their previous such ties against Spanish teams.
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In fact, Tottenham have won just thrice against Spanish teams in UEFA competition (D5 L8)
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Spurs have been good at home in Europe (a 180 degree shift from their home league form) and have won all four of their group stage ties in London without conceding a goal.
