JAKARTA - Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was pulled out after playing only 17 minutes as Tottenham Hotspur slumped to concede three goals in 15 minutes in the first leg of the Champions League 16-final against Atletico Madrid, Wednesday, March 11, 2026, early morning WIB.
Marcos Llorente put the hosts ahead after just six minutes at the Metropolitano, following Kinsky's error to lose the ball, before Antoine Griezmann made it 2-0.
Then, moments after Griezmann's goal, Kinsky tried to make a one-touch pass out of his penalty area with his left foot, but again missed the target. The ball rolled towards Julian Alvarez, who easily lobbed the ball into an empty net.
Tottenham captain Cristian Romero approached interim manager Igor Tudor before Atletico Madrid restarted the match. Kinsky's back number was raised by the fourth referee a moment later, while first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was brought on as a substitute.
Even so, Tudor defended the decision to drop the 22-year-old as a starter.
"I've been coaching for 15 years. I've never done that. It's necessary to keep the player, keep the team. It's an extraordinary situation."
"Before the match, it was the right choice. It was the right decision for me. After this happened, of course it's easy to say it wasn't the right decision."
"He is a good goalkeeper. Unfortunately, it happens because of these mistakes, in big matches. We are fragile, we are weak," Tudor said in a post-match press conference.
Romero and Kevin Danso hugged Kinsky as he left the pitch. The Czech goalkeeper immediately walked to the tunnel after a poor debut in the Champions League.
Kinsky previously appeared in the Champions League qualifying round with Slavia Praha in the 2024/2025 season and this is his first appearance as a starter for Tottenham in any event since October 2025.
Spurs substitutes Joao Palhinha, Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke ran after Kinsky along with staff member Dean Brill after a disappointing night in Madrid for the young goalkeeper in his 13th appearance for the English club.
This equals the fastest goalkeeper change in a Champions League knockout match with Lyon's Gregory Coupet, who was pulled off against Real Sociedad after 17 minutes in the 2003/2004 round of 16.
"He's sorry. The team is with him, I am too. I spoke to him, he understands why he came out. He's a very good goalkeeper. It's not about one player," Tudor said of Kinsky.
The substitutions did not stop the goals as Robin Le Normand made the score 4-0 in the 22nd minute, making it the second fastest time for a team to score four goals in a Champions League match. Only Los Rojiblancos' rivals, Real Madrid (against Dinamo Zagreb in 2011) managed to do it faster.
Spurs did get some pride back when Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke scored for the visitors.
However, Tottenham will still face a tough task to overturn a 2-5 deficit in the second leg in north London next week.
Tudor - who was appointed last month - has been under pressure as the team has lost its last five games ahead of the trip to Madrid.
"This is not a topic for me. It's not about my job, it's about how to help the team. I'm aware of who we are, what problems we face."
"Every game there are always things, sometimes it's very difficult to explain. These things, when they happen, at this moment, unfortunately it's like that."
"Slips can happen, that explains the moment, because they didn't (slip), and the field conditions were the same for both teams," Tudor said about his future.
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