Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Atletico Madrid

Tottenham Hotspur will look to complete a spectacular turnaround when they welcome Atletico Madrid to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night for the second leg of their last-16 contest in the Champions League.

Spurs suffered a 5-2 defeat to Atletico in the first leg last week and therefore have it all to do in order to be present in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Match preview

Tottenham managed to end a six-game losing run in all competitions against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, with Richarlison's last-gasp leveller at Anfield securing a welcome point for a Spurs side that continue to be led by interim head coach Igor Tudor.

There were strong calls for Tudor to lose his job following the 5-2 loss to Atletico last week, but Tottenham refused to make a change, and there is no question that the North London outfit put in a much-improved performance against Liverpool last time out.

Tottenham are firmly locked in a Premier League relegation battle, but their attention is now on the Champions League, as the capital outfit look to perform what would be a sensational turnaround in order to reach the quarter-finals of the competition.

On paper, it is a very tough task, but football has a funny way of producing the unexpected, and it would be some story if Tudor could lead Tottenham to an unthinkable last-eight spot.

Spurs have only won three of their last 16 UEFA games against Spanish opposition, though, and Atletico have been victorious in 10 of their 14 UEFA two-legged ties against English clubs.

Atletico have actually won seven of their last 11 Champions League last-16 ties, while they have opened the scoring in seven of their last eight matches in the competition.

Scoring first against Spurs on Wednesday would give them a four-goal advantage in the tie, and it is incredibly difficult to imagine Tottenham recovering from that, as the home side will once again be missing a whole host of important players through injury and suspension.

Atletico have not been perfect this season, far from it, and there are certainly weaknesses in their side, with Diego Simeone's team going through a transitional period.

The Red and Whites will enter this match off the back of a win, beating Getafe 1-0 on Saturday, and they will have had longer to prepare for this second leg, although the travelling time, which brings undoubted fatigue, must be taken into account.

In truth, it would be one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament if Atletico failed to advance to the quarter-finals from this position, and progression would see them take on Newcastle United or Barcelona in the final eight.

Tottenham Hotspur Champions League form:

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Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

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Atletico Madrid Champions League form:

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Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):

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Team News

Tottenham will once again be without the services of a whole host of important players for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Atletico, but Micky van de Ven will return after missing the Liverpool game through suspension.

Richarlison (suspended), Yves Bissouma (muscle), Lucas Bergvall (ankle), Ben Davies (ankle), Mohammed Kudus (thigh), Rodrigo Bentancur (thigh), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), James Maddison (knee) and Wilson Odobert (knee) are all out.

Meanwhile, Conor Gallagher (illness), Destiny Udogie (thigh), Cristian Romero (head) and Joao Palhinha (head) will all need to be assessed before final decisions are made.

There could be three changes to the side that started against Liverpool, with Xavi Simons, Van de Ven and Randal Kolo Muani potentially coming in for Richarlison, Radu Dragusin and Souza.

As for Atletico, the Spanish outfit's number one goalkeeper Jan Oblak has been ruled out with a muscular issue, so Juan Musso will feature between the sticks.

Rodrigo Mendoza remains out, while Pablo Barrios needs to be assessed, but Simeone's side have no further issues ahead of the contest.

Musso for Oblak could be the only change from the side that started the first leg between the two sides, with sweeping changes set to be made from the league game with Getafe.

Antoine Griezmann is likely to feature alongside Julian Alvarez in the final third of the field, while there should be a spot in the middle of the midfield for Johnny Cardoso.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Danso, Van de Ven, Spence; Gray, Sarr; Tel, Simons, Kolo Muani; Solanke

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Musso; Pubill, Le Normand, Hancko, Ruggeri; Simeone, Llorente, Cardoso, Lookman; Griezmann, Alvarez

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Atletico Madrid (Atletico Madrid win 7-4 on aggregate)

Tottenham were much-improved against Liverpool in the Premier League and will therefore arrive into this match with a degree of confidence, but they have simply given themselves too much to do, so we strongly fancy Atletico to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament.