Igor Tudor says he was protecting Kinsky with Spurs substitution at Atlético

Antonin Kinsky was at fault for Atletico's first and third goals as the Spanish side took a 3-0 lead in the opening quarter of an hour

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was taken off just 17 minutes into his side's Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid. Pic: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire.

Igor Tudor insisted that giving the 22-year-old Antonin Kinsky just his second start of the season and then taking him off again in the 17th minute of Tottenham’s humiliating 5-2 defeat at Atlético Madrid was the right decision, with the interim head coach saying he did so to protect the goalkeeper.

Kinsky, playing in place of Guglielmo Vicario, was withdrawn after two dreadful errors handed Atlético the first and third goals, with his teammates Connor Gallagher, Dominic Solanke and João Palhinha following up the tunnel to offer their support.

Kinsky had slipped over for the first goal, handing Atlético the ball inside his own area, before Micky van de Ven slipped for the second. After Kinsky’s second error, in which he had kicked the ball against his own leg leaving Julián Alvarez with an open goal to make it 3-0, Cristian Romero had appeared to be suggesting that Tudor make the change. The coach, though, described the early substitution as “my decision, of course”.

Tudor said: “What happened is very rare. I’ve been coaching for 15 years, I’ve never done this. It was necessary to preserve the guy, preserve the team. Incredible situation, nothing to comment.”

Spurs have now lost six games in a row for the first time in their history and are one point above the Premier League relegation zone. Tudor explained Kinsky’s selection in light of Tottenham’s domestic plight, saying: “It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are, with the pressure on Vicario, another competition. Tony is a very good goalkeeper. It was for me the right decision. After this, of course, it’s easy to say that it was not the right decision. So I explained to Tony also, speaking after: he’s the right guy and a good goalkeeper.

“Unfortunately, it happened in this big game, these mistakes. He was sorry. The team is with him, me too. I was speaking with him. He understands the moment, he understands why he goes out. As I said, he’s a very good goalkeeper. We are with him, we are all together. It’s never about one player. It’s happened. It’s the Champions League again. We paid [for] this start of the game.

“It was too much for us in this moment when we are fragile, when we are weak. I recognise what we are and which problems we have. I recognise that every game something happens. Sometimes it’s very difficult to explain. When these things happen, in the moment where we are now, unfortunately, it’s like that. Even these slippery things happen, it explains the moment [we are in].”

Asked if João Paulinha and Romero would be available to face Liverpool on Sunday after clashing heads in the final minutes, Tudor replied: “I don’t know, we are going to see. It is also an example of the moment. It’s incredible. Sometimes it’s difficult to explain.”

Guardian