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Here are our Tottenham talking points after their 3-2 victory against Atletico Madrid was not enough to prevent them exiting the Champions League
The Tottenham players left the pitch to a standing ovation on Wednesday night. They had not progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals but they had remembered how to entertain, score goals and win again.
They and the fans had both played their part. It was one of the smallest attendances of the season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but those 49,568 present produced one of the noisiest nights of the campaign. Igor Tudor called it "magical".
That's because their team believed they could overcome that 5-2 deficit and so in turn did the supporters. Were it not for a couple of big saves from Mathys Tel and Pedro Porro, they might just have done it.
Plenty of credit must go to Tudor, who just four days before appeared to be a man on the brink. Instead he has dragged Spurs out of their slumber with back-to-back impressive performances just when it might matter the most.
This is the football firefighting that was expected from the Croatian from the off but what greeted him when he walked through the doors of Hotspur Way was far beyond any mess he has encountered in the previous five clubs he has instantly improved.
He has also needed to tackle it all without his trusted right-hand man Ivan Javorcic and work out how to create some kind of viable team from the rubble of the injury list. Spurs are still trying to work through the work permit problems to get Javorcic through the door but for now Tudor must face the problems without him.
Even on Wednesday night, the unavailable players still totalled 11 with the suspended Richarlison, ineligible Souza, concussed Joao Palhinha and the injured Dominic Solanke, Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Ben Davies and Yves Bissouma.
That meant Tudor only had 11 match-fit players and Kevin Danso to utilise on the night yet the 47-year-old has managed to instil something in the past four days that Thomas Frank never truly managed - belief.
The players believe they can score goals again and they believe that if they battle then they will get their rewards.
This latest display was up there with the Lilywhites' best attacking showings of the season. The players dovetailed, passed and moved and they carved out chance after chance, with 11 of their 18 shots on target, the most in a home match this season.
They mixed up direct play with intricate passing moves that got the crowd up and off their seats. Atletico's experienced stand-in goalkeeper Juan Musso had to make eight saves during the encounter.
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Tottenham look fitter and stronger than they have in a long time and Guglielmo Vicario admitted as such after the game.
"We are very proud of what we did tonight but of course we are disappointed we didn't go through, but the important thing is we have got energy and freshness," said the Italian, who pulled off some excellent saves of his own.
"We fought hard, a lot of duels won, ground duels, aerial duels, second balls. The team is in a better physical place and we kept running until the last second and we had the energy of the fans - we had unbelievable support."
Tudor will finally have some positive selection problems for Sunday's huge Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest because a number of players stood up under the lights for the team.
None more so than Archie Gray. Tottenham know what they will have in the 20-year-old and that is why they paid out £40million (including Joe Rodon) for the then teenager back in 2024.
Nights like this provided the evidence that Gray belongs in the centre of the pitch at this level of the game.
Once again he drove Spurs throughout the contest, comfortable and confident with the ball at his feet and fiery in the tackle. It was his interception and interplay with Pape Matar Sarr and Xavi Simons that led to his assist for the latter's first goal of the night.
He had an 88 per cent pass success rate and his 57 touches of the ball were dotted all around the pitch as he covered every blade of grass.
Gray created two chances, and he and Xavi made nine ball recoveries each, only Sarr came close to them (8) of any other outfield player on the pitch from both sides.
"Whenever I get the chance to get onto the pitch, I always make sure I give my all, no matter what may come up in the game," Gray said in an interview in the matchday programme.
"I always try to put myself about in tackles and focus on how I play without the ball first, over anything else. My old coaches at Leeds always used to say to me that I had to earn the right to play, whether that be making a tackle within the first five minutes or putting a few good passes together early doors.
"I always focus on starting sharp and being aware and then I start to trust my quality on the ball. I’ve worked really hard for my whole life to get here so that I can deliver that quality, and there have been a few more [goal contributions] in the past few weeks, my assist against Crystal Palace, for example.
"I'm determined to make that continue and to show the fans and my team-mates what I can do and keep improving every day."
While Gray having to fit into almost every position on the pitch in his two seasons at Tottenham has delayed his regular arrival in the midfield, it has given him an education and perspective that will have broadened his ability in the engine room.
He has now surpassed Dele Alli to make more Champions League starts for Tottenham while aged under 21 than any other player in the north London club's history, with seven of them.
The Spurs fans are starting to realise what they have on their hands in Gray as a long-term fixture of their midfield. The more confident the youngster gets, the better he will be but it is the battling base through the tough times that will serve him throughout his bright future.
He was so good on Wednesday night against one of Europe's toughest sides that when he was substituted 81 minutes in and began his long walk around the outside of the pitch, Atletico's Marcos Llorente trotted across from this position to shake his hand and give him a hug on the far touchline.
The experienced 31-year-old Spain international knew he had been in a battle with the youngster and can spot a talent when he sees one. It said everything about Gray that as he walked around the pitch he looked utterly gutted about Tottenham's impending European exit despite his performance on the night.
When it was put to Tudor that Gray had been remarkable, he nodded his head.
"I agree, I agree. He's a guy, you know the positions he plays everywhere, so probably this position in the middle is, I believe, the best one for him," said the Croatian. "But he's playing continually in the right way, in a good way.
"It's a mix of quality, physically and mentally, to always make the right choices and be humble and have legs to do so. He needs to continue this, he's still young, so every day he needs a new confirmation [of what he can do].
"Together with Pape, I see them very well, there's a quality between these two players. The last two games, they really made a difference. But also, I think Xavi was very good, happy for him, showed the talent, it was not easy to play there in the middle, where it's always difficult.
"In the front, Mathys [Tel] also, did good things. Kolo [Muani] as well, behind, so it was a sensation that even we can make it, when it was a foul on Xavi, the referee didn't give us the foul, that little bit changed the game. But as I said before, we take a good direction as a team and we need to continue."
With the players available it looked like Tudor would go into the game with a back four but instead he made the unexpected decision to play Radu Dragusin as a right-back with Pedro Porro sat in front of him on the wing. It was a 4-4-2 with Tel and Xavi often interchanging positions alongside Randal Kolo Muani.
Tactically it worked. Spurs should have gone into the half-time break in a more threatening position for all the work they put in going forward, the left-side in particular of Xavi, Tel and Djed Spence all causing chaos.
Tel continues to be an unpredictable threat for opponents. He sent two early shots at goal before a near post effort that Musso managed to deflect around for a corner.
Spurs' opening goal should have come before the half hour mark but it finally arrived when Tel found himself on the right, after pressing and forcing a throw in, and curled a perfect cross on to the head of Kolo Muani to head into the bottom left corner of the net.
Kolo Muani's movement away from his defender was top class and he has now racked up four goals and two assists in his nine Champions League games this season.
Six minutes later and Tel had a huge chance to really push the hosts into the contest.
Great feet from Gray saw him burst out between two players before picking out Kolo Muani. The Frenchman fed Xavi and the Dutchman flicked the ball first time into Tel's path but the winger hit another effort at Musso rather than firing it to the back post where both Gray and Kolo Muani were waiting to tap into the empty net.
It was beautiful football from Spurs, the likes of which that stadium has not seen much of this season, and it should have brought a key second goal.
Soon after Xavi won a flicked on header that Tel ran on to and curled an effort that Musso had to dive full length to push away. Not to be outdone, Vicario made a brilliant reaction save when Giuliano Simeone's powerful effort deflected off the returning Cristian Romero right in front of the Italian.
After all of Tottenham's chances in the first period, which saw them leave the pitch to a hearty ovation from the crowd, the second half began with controversy as Xavi appeared to be barged into by Julian Alvarez as he went to take a shot on the edge of the Atletico box.
No foul was given and the visitors swept up the pitch and the former City man ended the counter-attack with a powerful effort into the top left corner of the net. VAR checked the barge on Xavi for all of five seconds it seemed before dismissing it.
"Yes, for me it was key, it was obviously a foul [on Xavi]," Tudor told football.london. "OK though this is how it is."
Spurs might have crumbled but with Gray in the midfield they were never going to. Five minutes after Alvarez's goal, the 20-year-old sensed an opportunity to win the ball in the Atletico half and darted in to get it before Johnny Cardoso.
He took it back off Sarr and played a one-two with Xavi before the Dutchman curled a wonderful low curling effort into the bottom right corner of the net. The touches from Gray throughout the move, all done at speed, were brilliant and the finish from Xavi matched it.
Tudor looked at Diego Simeone on the touchline with a puff of the cheeks as if to say 'no stopping that'.
Eight minutes later and Spurs should have been well and truly in the contest. Romero won a ball back on the halfway line, Porro touched it on and Xavi played it back into the Spaniard's path in the box.
Porro hit the ball with the outside of his foot and Musso pulled off a terrific save, but the Tottenham man might just have been replaying it in his head as a lower strike as he lay in bed later that night.
Dragusin sent a header at Musso from a corner before Vicario denied Alvarez.
Atletico then struck on 75 minutes. Vicario tipped over an Alvarez free-kick but from the corner David Hancko got away from Spence and crept in front of Sarr to nod home a header.
There was still time for Xavi to be sent tumbling in the box in the 89th minute, after linking up with Spurs' academy product Callum Olusesi on his Champions League debut. The Dutchman clipped the resulting penalty in off the inside of the left-hand post.
It marked an impressive night for Xavi, who was as important in his ball-winning skills as he was his creativity and finishing. The 22-year-old led those ball recoveries with Gray and also made two tackles, one interception and one block, as well as one clearance with those nine ball recoveries.
Spurs won on the evening and they looked great in doing so. It only makes those first 16 minutes in Madrid all the more damaging.
To have the feeling of winning a game again was so important ahead of what is to come in the Premier League and Tudor admitted he was annoyed when almost all of his players flew up the pitch with seconds left on a counter-attack.
"Yeah, I agree, I agree it was important [to feel a winning feeling again]. That's why I was angry about the counter attack in the last minute," he admitted. "We go with nine [players in attack], I got a little bit angry there. Because in the last minute at least you wanted to take this [win], but I understand the players wanted to score a goal.
"It was nice in the end to at least take the victory. What you said, it's important also for the morale."
It was the fight and the football that stood out, some of the best attacking interplay seen at Tottenham for a long time and Tudor explained to football.london how it came about.
"You've got to work, you work, you work, you work, and then there is a game that shows what you work for," he said. "The players, what was the key, they believed that we could get through, so they really believed that was the key, after 1-0 more.
"Unfortunately, what happened in the [first Atletico] goal, OK, as I said before, the performance in this moment where we are, it's very important that it happens, this kind of performance, three days after Liverpool."
He added: "It's nice, the sensation and feeling are mixed, of course. We are out, but it was a sensation of one very good team on the pitch, one very good performance of the players, the energy was very nice.
"From the first moment, the fans recognised that the team will try to do everything they can do, so from the first moment until the last moment, they were with us, it was beautiful. Thanks [to them]."
Tudor had lived and kicked every moment of the match as Simeone did alongside him in the opposite technical area.
Before the game, the Croatian had once again walked up behind Spurs' team manager and player liaison Allan Dixon and hugged him with a smile as he had done at Anfield, when everyone thought he believed it was Arne Slot.
Either it was a call-back moment of good humour from Tudor or an attempt to suggest 'we always do this', so watch out for what happens before Sunday's crunch match against Nottingham Forest. Perhaps it could end up becoming a new superstition for the interim head coach.
Another regular occurrence is Tudor marching straight down the tunnel at the final whistle of home matches, which has brought him some criticism from the pundits.
However, the short-term nature of Tudor's tenure in Tottenham means he will not care one bit what anyone thinks and that's summed up what he's done so far. It's probably helped him get past his rough start to life at the club.
"The last two games we improved, but as I said the two games before, it's impossible to judge these two games, because what happened in the first 20 minutes against [Atletico] Madrid, there is nothing about the coach, team, tactics, training. There is nothing about it," he said.
"Crystal Palace, the game before, we were 1-0 up and total control of the game. Red card so as well, nothing about it. But in football you need confirmation every day, every day, every day, every Sunday.
"There is on Sunday an important game as we know but it will not decide nothing yet. As I said before, it will be decided everything in the last two or three games I believe."
There's no getting away though from the fact that Sunday brings a huge game for Spurs and Forest. Tottenham have come through their European test with more confidence as a result and their visitors must travel to Denmark on Thursday night to face Midtjylland in the Europa League with the score at 0-0.
Forest will have less time to recover and prepare for Sunday's game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Spurs must make that count.
Tudor should have attacking options finally with Richarlison back from suspension and Solanke's injury not expected to keep him out of the clash.
"Unfortunately he has some problem with the hip. It is no big deal but he hasn't made it for today but I think he will be good for Sunday," Tudor said before the game with Atletico.
Tudor must juggle the impetus that Xavi and Tel have right now, as well as Kolo Muani, with the battling focal point Richarlison brings and the hold-up play of Solanke. All of them will play a part as the game wears on.
Spurs must arrest their Premier League slump just when it matters most ahead of a big three-week gap in fixtures. They have not won in 12 league games, with six defeats and six draws, since the victory at Crystal Palace on December 28.
The fans will play their part on Sunday with various supporter groups coming together to greet the team as they arrive and then create a special atmosphere with the motto 'Show up. Sing up. Stay up."
The supporters have had plenty to protest and be angry about their club this season but they are going to do everything to push on Tottenham on Sunday and the players must respond.
Romero spoke after the game to Spanish-speaking journalists in the mixed zone as they tried to get him to speak about the links to Atletico and more praise pre-match for him from Simeone.
The Argentine, who signed a big new deal last summer, is only focused on the fight ahead at Spurs.
"The truth is that I'm focused on the situation we're in. I have a lot of respect and affection for the club and I want to finish the season in the best way possible. We'll see later but the most important thing now is to recover energy," he said.
Tottenham must put their passports away for 18 months at least but Sprexit will not last long in Tudor's eyes.
"No, why should it be? Next year, no. The year after that, can go again. Why not?" he said. "Winning this trophy last season gave confidence to the players, for sure. Because as you know, it's totally different if you have this experience in European competition, with a lot of players who win that, so this gives you more confidence when you play European competition games.
"We saw this even today. When you are the [Europa League] winner and you come to play today, you feel strong. So they show this in the pitch from the first moment. After seeing today, there is even more questions about the first game. If it didn't happen, what happened, I believe we have a good chance to get through against Atletico Madrid."
He added: "I need to repeat that today we have again 11 players and on the bench just one player. One player is [Kevin] Danso. All three players - [Lucas] Bergvall, [Destiny] Udogie and Conor [Gallagher] - doctors say they can play at least maximum 20 minutes, 25 minutes.
"So you have only Danso as a substitute. You play with 11 plus Danso in this kind of a game, and I don't count the two young players. So imagine the situation, imagine the value of this victory here. You need to make a proclamation of substitutes, what happens if someone is out, how we can deal with Bergvall and Conor.
"So it's a really particular moment, but you know how it is here in Tottenham, better than me with these kind of injuries. The value of this performance is even bigger because of these things."
It was a big performance for Spurs even as they made their way out of Europe. The players have remembered how to create chances and score goals and they have shown the fight in the past two matches that has been lacking for so long.
That has got the fans back onside with huge support expected on Sunday and now the Tottenham players and their battling head coach must harness the momentum. Tudor must be to do.
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