There have certainly been times where I felt conflicted on whether or not I wanted Tottenham Hotspur to “try” in a given match, typically because I felt like a different concurrent competition should be a higher priority, and perhaps occasionally because I felt like a loss would be for the greater good. There have obviously been even more instances where I felt that the team had no chance of winning.
Wednesday is somehow a completely different beast entirely. Spurs have no hope of turning this tie
around and honestly would have very little to believe even if the first leg ended level. It clearly did not, and honestly that might be for the best — focus must fully remain on the Premier League and sadly the most significant six-pointer in a long time.
UCL Round of 16: Spurs 2-5 Atleti
Date: Wednesday, March 18
Time: 4:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm UK
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV: Paramount+ (US), TNT Sports 3 (UK)
These teams met last week in Spain and it did not go well. Atletico Madrid was better in every facet and deserved the 5-2 scoreline. Spurs did their best to gift the host far too many opportunities, but even without those farcical debacles, that contest was only ending one way. Spurs did generate a few chances of their own and could have even scored more…but they did not.
Trying to find a reason to watch…
Sorry, but I am not sure how much there really is to say here. I suppose as supporters, we will always have an interest in this club, and I do legitimately think this is the last time Tottenham will be in the Champions League for a while. I am not suggesting that anyone skip this one, but at the same time, this contest does not warrant genuine analysis.
For the optimist, the hope would be Spurs get the exact opposite luck back home with the vibes slightly revived. The pitch should not cause as many slips, and maybe Atleti will be the one making needless mistakes. Instead of hitting the bar, perhaps a couple early shots find their way into the net. If the deficit can even narrow slightly by halftime, there should be some buzz in the stadium.
Even if Tottenham somehow finds a way to fight back into the tie, does it change anything in the grand scheme of things? The significance of Sunday is not impacted one iota. I guess consecutive positive outings could not hurt, but the odds anything but humiliation on aggregate are so small that it feels pointless to even discuss.
