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Atletico Madrid and Tottenham meet in an intriguing UEFA Champions League (UCL) last 16 tie.
Atleti are heading into the first leg in excellent form, winning four of their last five games in all competitions. There’s a Copa del Rey final in their future, and they are comfortably in the UCL qualifying places in the La Liga.
Glory in this competition could be a real dream for Diego Simeone and his men, as they can beat anyone on their day. First in their way is the most unknown entity in all of football at the moment: Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs are amazing in the UCL and terrible in the league. It’s not a dissimilar place to which they found themselves last season, and that finished with Europa League glory. Could they go one better this season and somehow survive in the league again, but this time lift the biggest trophy in club football?
Whilst the jury is out on that happening, Spurs have to deal with the real problem that they come into this game on the back of five consecutive domestic defeats and have only won one away game during the UCL league phase (D2, L1).
Atletico Madrid v Tottenham key information
• Date: Tuesday, March 10th
• Kick-off time: 20:00 GMT
• Venue: Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid
• Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük
• VAR: Pol van Boekel
• TV channels: TNT Sports (UK)
• Odds: ATM (8/15) - DRAW (31/10) - TOT (5/1)
Atletico Madrid team news
Diego Simeone has the luxury of being able to field an almost fully fit squad. The only absentee on Tuesday will be Pablo Barrios, who has been missing since the start of February due to a muscle injury.
In January, Atleti purchased Ademola Lookman from Atalanta, and the Nigerian forward has hit the ground running in his new surroundings. He has four goals and three assists in 10 games so far, with one goal and one assist coming in his two UCL ties for his new club. Delving deeper into those stats, Lookman has now scored in four of his last five competitive appearances of at least 60 minutes (W3, D1). He will be one for Spurs to watch.
Atletico Madrid predicted team v Tottenham, (4-4-2)
Coach: Diego Simeone
Oblak; Ruggeri, Hancko, Gimenez, Llorente; Lookman, Koke, Cardoso, Simeone; Alvarez, Sorloth
Tottenham team news
Spurs’ injury woes are well-documented. In the past week, they have added two new names to the list, with Radu Dragusin and Djed Spence. In total, that makes 10 potential first-team players that Tottenham are missing, meaning they are at the bare bones of their squad.
With the terrible form that Tottenham are in, interim manager Igor Tudor is already under pressure. BBC Sport reports that Tottenham have no immediate plans to change manager for a second time this season and that Tudor will undertake the pre-match news conference ahead of this UCL game. Yet, if Spurs fall to defeat again, it will be interesting to see what develops after.
Spurs predicted team v Atletico Madrid, (3-4-2-1)
Coach: Igor Tudor
Vicario; Van de Ven, Danso, Palhinha; Souza, Gallagher, Gray, Pedro Porro; Tel, Kolo Muani; Solanke
Where to watch on TV or live stream?
This UCL match between Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur will be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK. To access TNT Sports, you need a subscription through discovery+, and then you can stream the match on the app, through your smart TV, on the website or through your TV provider.
Head-to-head record
Tottenham Hotspur have faced Atletico Madrid just once before in European competition, beating them in the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup final 5-1. Since then, the two teams have never met, but Atletico Madrid have played many English sides recently. Their record is not great, though, having only won one of their last 10 UEFA Champions League meetings with English clubs (D2, L7), beating Manchester United in March 2022.
Despite this, Atleti have progressed from two of their three previous UCL last 16 ties against English clubs, beating Liverpool in 2019/20 and Manchester United in 2021/22, and losing the other to Chelsea in 2020/21.
Atleti come into the game having won four games in their last five. Compare this to Spurs, who have lost their last five, and the momentum is only really with one team.
Odds for Atletico Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur
Atleti are the favourites for the first leg, coming in at 8/15 at bet365. Spurs are at 5/1 with a draw at 31/10.