Atletico Madrid delivered a sensational first-leg performance, defeating Tottenham Hotspur 5–2 on Tuesday at the Metropolitano Stadium in their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 clash.
The Spanish side dominated from the outset, capitalising on early mistakes by Tottenham’s young goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who was making only his third appearance of the season.
Kinsky’s errors allowed Atletico to score three times in the first 15 minutes, marking the fastest treble in a Champions League knockout match.
Marcos Llorente opened the scoring in the sixth minute after Kinsky slipped while trying to play the ball.
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Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead eight minutes later, with a slip from Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven contributing to the goal. Julian Alvarez then converted another error from Kinsky to make it 3–0 in the 15th minute.
Kinsky was subsequently substituted for Guglielmo Vicario in the 17th minute.
Atletico added a fourth goal through Robin Le Normand, who headed home after Vicario parried a Griezmann free kick.
Tottenham responded in the 26th minute when Pedro Porro scored following a pass from Richarlison. Substitute Dominic Solanke later netted a second for Spurs in the 76th minute after an error by Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Julian Alvarez completed his brace early in the second half with a swift counterattack, sliding the ball past Vicario to give Atletico a commanding 5–1 lead before Spurs’ late consolation.
Alvarez acknowledged the importance of the win but stressed the tie was far from over.
“We are happy with the win and the three-goal lead, but there are still 90 minutes left,” he said, highlighting Atletico’s focus on advancing to the quarter-finals.
With this dominant display, Atletico enters the second leg in London holding a significant advantage, leaving Tottenham with a challenging task to overturn the deficit.
