Tottenham's nightmare Champions League draw as European top scorer ready to dash hopes

Tottenham will either travel to Turkey or Spain for their round of 16 Champions League clash with the draw commencing on Friday

Tottenham are set to face either Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray in the Champions League round of 16 - and neither side are an easy task. Spurs automatically qualified for the next stage of the European competition by finishing fourth in the league phase table.

The club have shone in Europe this year, a far cry from their form domestically. They sit just four points above the relegation zone in the Premier League with fans now pinning their hopes on a deep run in the Champions League instead.

For now, two teams stand in their way of European progression - Galatasaray and Atletico. Spurs have faced both sides just once before in Europe, with one going far better than the other.

In the 1963 European Cup Winners' Cup final, the Premier League side defeated Atletico 5-1 to lift the trophy their opponents were aiming to defend. James Greaves, Tottenham's second-top goalscorer of all time, bagged a brace in that game, with John White and Terry Dyson grabbing the other three goals.

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Spurs have faced Galatasaray much more recently, going down 3-2 in a Europa League league phase fixture during the 2024/25 season. Yunus Akgun and Victor Osimhen scored for the Turkish side, with Dominic Solanke and Will Lankshear finding the net for the away side.

Lankshear was sent off during this fixture on the hour mark, with Solanke scoring around 10 minutes later to give his side some hope. This match didn't end up mattering too much in the long run, as former boss Ange Postecoglou led Spurs to their first major trophy in 17 years with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the final.

Both sides have inconsistent form in this year's European competition, with the Spaniards drawing 3-3 with Club Brugge in their initial knockout phase clash. However, Diego Simeone's team made a statement on the return leg, defeating the Belgian side 4-1 to book their place in the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Galatasaray needed extra time to advance despite beating Juventus 5-2 in the first leg of their play-off round. The Italians made a comeback in the return leg, scoring three times without reply in 90 minutes to send the game to extra time.

Despite this, the Turkish side would go on to score twice to book their spot in the next round to face either Spurs or Liverpool - two sides they have recently beaten in Europe.

Both teams have stars to watch out for with goalscoring prowess. Victor Osimhen made history in the knockout clash with Juve, becoming the club's foreign player with the most goals in Europe as he netted his 13th on Wednesday night.

He is in red-hot form in the Champions League, sitting in fourth place in the top scorers list with seven and tied with Manchester City's Erling Haaland. Overall this season, the Nigeria international has 21 goal contributions in 24 appearances and is one to watch.

In Atletico's camp, Alexander Sorloth is the name on everybody's lips following his hat-trick over Club Brugge on Tuesday night. The Norwegian has 15 goals and one assist so far this season from 34 games, including six goal contributions in the Champions League alone.

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In terms of recent results, Spurs will hope to avoid Galatasaray. The high-flying side sits first in the Turkish Super Lig and will be buoyed by their latest result over Juventus.

On the other hand, recent signing Conor Gallagher may hope to face his former club Atletico to exact some revenge on Simeone in Europe. The Spaniards are fourth in the LaLiga table and lost three games in the league phase of the Champions League.