Igor Tudor has acknowledged Tottenham’s top priority is Premier League survival but urged them to use the Champions League to shift momentum.
Spurs are back at Atletico Madrid’s Riyadh Air Metropolitano for the first time since losing to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final and the north London club are mired in a relegation fight after a run of 11 league games without a win this year.
Already with a list of eight players injured, any further absence could damage Tottenham’s hopes of staying top and Tudor agreed when asked if Tuesday’s last-16 first leg was a free throw and a chance to try some new ideas.
“I agree with both,” Tudor said.
“As I said, focus on us, on playing against a team that has a history in this Champions League, what they have experienced, they have quality.
“We need to do our best in terms of we need to grow, as you said also because our first goal is the Premier League, this needs to be said publicly.
“This is something normal that this [Champions League] It’s a little extra, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to move on to the next round.
“Of course, it’s very important. It’s important.
“We have to grow, so it can be an opportunity. In this type of game you can use a totally different mentality. Maybe this can help us see what problems we have.”
“I think these types of games can help us change in the right way, but always focus on us, on growing as a team, on doing things better and that’s the point.”
This match is steeped in history for Tottenham, as not only was the Metropolitano the place where they suffered the heartbreak of the Champions League, but the club’s only match against Atlético was the triumphant 1963 Cup Winners’ Cup final.
Fast forward to today and Spurs have reached their lowest point of the 21st century, but Tudor will be boosted by the availability of captain Cristian Romero on Tuesday.
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Tudor also confirmed that Richarlison would be a starter and believes he has started to make progress in correcting “old habits” in the team.
“I saw that the more time passes, the sessions are always better, there is more quality in everything, especially because important players are returning to the team,” Tudor noted.
“As I said before, many old habits sometimes take longer than expected to change.”
Spurs right back Pedro Porro backed the interim head coach as he sat next to him.
Porro’s frustrated reaction to being substituted in Thursday’s 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace went viral after hitting a chair.
But Porro insisted: “I just want to make it clear that it’s not about the coach. I’m a player who gives everything on the field, 200%, and we never like to lose. It’s just about that.”
“Since I knew he was coming to the club, I knew he was going to be a coach who would help us a lot.
“All the players know that we have to go on the right path with him.”
However, when asked to clarify that the players do care about this relegation battle, Porro said: “This is a difficult situation, but the important thing now that we are here is to focus on tomorrow’s game.”
