From ‘perplexing’ to ‘lame joke’ – how Spain reacted to ‘zombie’ Tottenham Hotspur performance at Atletico Madrid

It was a night to forget in the Spanish capital as Tottenham Hotspur sunk to an all-time low in the UEFA Champions League against Atletico Madrid. Spurs found themselves 4-0 down after 22 minutes with goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky withdrawn before the half-hour mark on his Champions League debut. The fallout in England was brutal but how did the Spanish media react to the mauling in Madrid?

The opening 30 minutes between Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur will go down as one of the most memorable in UEFA Champions League history.

Diego Simeone's men raced into a 3-0 lead inside 15 minutes with Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky at fault for two of the goals on a Champions League debut to forget.

Kinsky's night turned from bad to worse because he was substituted moments after conceding the third goal with Spurs interim head coach Igor Tudor failing to acknowledge the goalkeeper as he trudged off.

Spurs would go on to suffer a 5-2 defeat in the Metropolitano Stadium on Tuesday night - the same venue where they lost to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final.

As expected, Tudor was under the spotlight for the team's inept display with TNT Sports pundits Joe Hart and Steve McManaman criticising the Croatian following his fourth defeat in a row at the club.

But how did the Spanish react to Spurs' mauling in Madrid? Did they hit a more sympathetic tone or were they equally as critical of Tudor and his team's performance? TNT Sports brings you the best analysis from Spain.

'Tottenham are a perplexing team' - Marca

The Madrid-based sports newspaper Marca adorned the phrase 'Red and white steamroller' on its front page following Atletico's emphatic win.

The start of Marca's report summed up how the rest of the watching world was feeling.

"What happened during a quarter of an hour at the Metropolitano could perfectly go down in the annals of football," the report reads.

Was that the craziest first 30 minutes in Champions League history?

'This is embarrassing!' - Spurs keeper Kinsky subbed after 16 minutes

The last sentence of the opening paragraph also perfectly summarised how many Spurs supporters would have felt: "In short, 3-0 without even trying."

The report also described Kinsky's first-half substitution as "justifiable from a footballing perspective, [but] terribly cruel from a human one."

Marca went on to label Spurs as a "perplexing team" but also criticised the hosts for letting them off the hook despite the La Liga outfit taking a three-goal advantage to north London for the second leg.

'A zombie. An absurdity. A ghost. A tragedy' - AS

The Spanish daily sports newspaper Diario AS described Atletico's win as "The happiest night" on its front page but they did not hold back in adding salt to Spurs' wounds.

"Kinsky had dressed up as Karius and refused to let go of the disguise," the report reads in reference to former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius who made two errors in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid.

When analysing Tudor's decision to substitute the Spurs goalkeeper, the newspaper adds: "If Kinsky was already shaken, Tudor then finished him off: he demanded to be substituted.

"A dead man was heading to the dressing room in front of a stunned crowd."

The brutal assessment of Spurs' performance did not stop there.

The report continues: "Tottenham is a dead team. A zombie. An absurdity. A ghost. A tragedy. Live surrealism. A lame joke. It doesn't matter who plays. Put on the circus music."

When attention turned towards crediting Atletico for their part in this memorable victory, veteran Antoine Griezmann was lauded for his performance in the same way that Ally McCoist was waxing lyrical about his assist for Julian Alvarez's goal in the second.

The report concluded: "When he [Griezmann] retires, his boots should be on display in the Louvre."

'A terminally ill patient waiting for a miracle' - Mundo Deportivo

It is no surprise that the Catalan based sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo led with Barcelona's dramatic draw at Newcastle but there was still room on the front page for Atletico's win which is loosely translated as "a five-star display."

The opening paragraph of the report was probably one of the best written in any language from Tuesday night.

"Those who do not believe in bad luck, curses, ill omens, misfortune, fate should take a look at what was seen at the Metropolitano," the newspaper began.

The report continued: "The first 15 minutes of the match were a series of catastrophic misfortunes, as the saying goes, for an English team whose performance on the pitch was enough to understand why, with such a talented squad, they are only one point above the relegation zone," the report reads.

"It's impossible to string together so much bad luck in such a short space of time. Awful."

'Man management at its very worst' - Tudor slammed for Kinsky treatment

Tudor 'decided his own fate' on 'surreal' night - McManaman

'Everything is going against us' - Tudor on Spurs thrashing in Madrid

There was yet more sympathy for Kinsky following his early substitution which was described as "pure and utter surrealism".

In agreement with Marca, the report was less than flattering towards Atletico for not finishing off the tie with a more ruthless streak in the second half.

"If Igor Tudor's team wasn't completely eliminated at the Metropolitano, it was because Atletico paid the price for their complacency and overconfidence at two crucial moments, leaving Tottenham with a glimmer of hope.

"A terminally ill patient, awaiting a miracle."

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