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Tottenham Hotspur remain in the bottom three of the Premier League and are still two points from safety.

After a difficult period stretching back to December without a win, Spurs secured their first win of 2026 at Molineux last weekend, against the league's bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

They again make the trip to the West Midlands this weekend to face Unai Emery's Aston Villa on Sunday, May 3.

It will be the third time that the sides have met this season, with the previous two meetings taking place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Both in the league and the FA Cup, the matches ended 2-1 to Villa.

Villa have also won the last two meetings at Villa Park, with one of those also coming in the FA Cup.

The last time that Spurs tasted victory in this fixture was a 4-1 win in November 2024.

Spurs are fighting to stay in the league. Whereas Villa are looking to secure qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League.

They are also competing in the UEFA Europa League, with this game sandwiched between their semi-final ties with Nottingham Forest.

Start of something special?

There will be a hope that last week's victory can provide the required boost to their season.

There are just four games remaining so time is tight. However, sometimes it can only take one result to turn a corner.

There will be a hope that the win is enough to kick Spurs into action.

It was not necessarily an outstanding performance but their job was to leave Molineux with the three points and that is what they did.

They should take confidence from that and it breaks the long run without a win.

If Spurs can take the positives from the win then they may be in a position to put a run together.

It does not need to be pretty, they just need to find ways to get points.

For many weeks, it has been said that it was likely a case of 'now or never' for Spurs. The win last week does not change that but they have made the start and got the first of however many wins they will need to give them a chance of avoiding the drop.

All is still not well

Critics will say that Spurs made hard work of getting the three points.

On paper, Wolves are the easiest game that teams can have in this season's Premier League and Spurs did not win easily.

They needed Antonin Kinsky to make several big saves in goal, notably denying Adam Armstrong when he was in one-on-one and saving a free-kick from Joao Gomes in the final moments of the match.

Therefore, other teams in the league may not be sitting up and taking notice of Spurs just yet.

If they can back it up with a win in Birmingham then it would likely be a different story.

However, that is the challenge in front of them.

Not a lot changed

The other concern for Spurs may be that they won their game but with West Ham and Nottingham Forest winning last weekend the table remains the same.

It is arguably worse for Spurs as another gameweek has passed by and they remain in the bottom three.

They remain two points behind the Hammers and five points behind Forest.

Roberto De Zerbi will point out that his side cannot worry about other results and that they can only focus on winning their own games.

However, they may be internally frustrated that results did not go their way as at one point when West Ham were drawing, Spurs were moving out of the drop zone on goal difference.

Fresh injury setbacks

In the game against Brighton, where he scored the goal to put Spurs ahead, and against Wolves Xavi Simons was one of Spurs' best players.

He left the pitch on a stretcher at Molineux and has been ruled out for the rest of the season and the summer's World Cup.

It will come as a blow for De Zerbi to lose such a key attacking threat.

They are also waiting on the fitness of striker Dominic Solanke who limped off in the first half last week.

Spurs have a lengthy injury list and it is still growing.

This will not help their cause.

Villa may not be in the strongest form, losing last week at Fulham and that was their second defeat in their last five Premier League games. However, Spurs will need to be at their best to get a result.

A win and a draw in their last two games suggests an upturn in form.

They very much remain in the battle for survival and, despite their struggles, are far from down yet.

They will be arriving in Birmingham bruised with another injury but hopeful that they can back up the victory from last week.

Roberto de Zerbi shared updates about the state of his squad as Tottenham travel to Wolves.

‘He was one of my perfect players’

Injuries have been a big factor in the failures of the club during the last two years, and the Italian head coach continues to work without several significant options in attack for the final phase of the season.

"Destiny Udogie has a problem and can't play tomorrow. I'm sorry, because he played a great first half, second half as well, but the first one was great. We have Djed Spence, Souza is also available to come with us, so it's not a big problem. I hope Destiny will be available next week at Villa Park.

“It’s a muscular injury [for Destiny], but not so important. He didn't play for a long time, and it can happen at the beginning when you start to feel something of this problem. I have a big opinion about Destiny, and he is a crucial player for us. We are lucky because we can play with Djed Spence, another important player. I think he is playing very well this season, another very good guy.

“[James Maddison] is not available yet. Especially this week, he felt pain, but not a so important problem. He will come with us on the bench because it's important if he plays or not. It doesn't matter. It's better if he plays, for sure, but also as a guy, as a leader, as a positive guy inside of my dressing room. I want to see nice people and positive people and it's important also for his team-mates.

“I'm sorry for [Dejan Kulusevski] because he was one of my perfect players. He is a very specific player for me, like Mohamed Kudus, like Cristian Romero. I hope for him that he can play in the World Cup because the World Cup for a player is a moment, is the best period of their career. I don't know the situation very well.

“[Pape Matar Sarr has] felt pain in the shoulder and this week he has not worked with the group. He is not available to play.

“[Guglielmo Vicario] is not available for tomorrow. I hope he can start with me from Monday. Antonin Kinsky is playing very well and from Monday we go to work with him. I hope Vicario can come back in the best physical condition because he is another very important player for us.”

‘I consider the attitude, the behaviour’

The fallout from the 2-2 draw with Brighton was also on the media’s radar. Georginio Rutter levelled the score for the Seagulls in North London as he profited from a Kevin Danso mistake, and the defender has been the recipient of reams of racial abuse on social media in the days that followed.

De Zerbi defends Kevin Danso against racist abuse

De Zerbi stood up for the player, and he asked other team members to step up for the fight to survive.

“I was very annoyed by the racist insults towards Kevin Danso, but he has to be calm. I am proud for him. He played a fantastic game, not a good game, a fantastic game. It was important for the result, but I don't consider one mistake so important.

“I consider the attitude, I consider the behaviour on the pitch, the quality in which he played that game, the personality while he played that game. He will be here next season because he is a good guy, he is a very good player and every one of us is lucky to work with him.

“I think Xavi Simons but also Conor Gallagher [stepped up against Brighton]. I watched the same Gallagher when he played in Chelsea. Dominic Solanke played a great game, Micky van de Ven, I don't know what the problem was, but everyone knows my opinion about him. Pedro Porro scored a goal, but he played an important game.

“Udogie, Danso maybe can improve in the confidence, not in the attitude because he is a good guy, he worked a lot in the defensive phase, especially in defensive space, but Randal Kolo Muani in the second half, the second part of the game, Mathys Tel, both can play better. Not play better because they are playing bad, but because they have big talent and I want to see all this talent on the pitch.

“It's not the best position for [Kolo Muani], right winger, and also for Mathys Tel, because Mathys Tel is more of a winger, but in the left side. For a winger, from my experience because I was a winger, it's a totally different playing the left and the right side. Both they can play and we need them in that position.

“It's not a problem about the position of the pitch, but confidence and players can change completely, performance depends on the confidence. If they feel confident from the coach, from the environment, from the fans, and they want to help them both to play following their qualities, that's just it.”Log in

Tottenham's risk of being relegated from the Premier League continues to grow after a draw with Brighton ensured their stay in the bottom three for another week.

Spurs put on one of their better performances of the last few weeks and looked set to claim all three points after goals from Pedro Porro and Xavi Simons, however, equalisers from Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter meant the points were shared.

The North London side have now gone 15 games without a win and are still looking for their first league victory of 2026.

However, Roberto De Zerbi remained confident of his team's survival hopes and insisted they have the quality to pull through.

"Brighton is a very good team. In this moment, they are playing very well, but I think we deserved to win the game, " said the Italian manager.

"I'm very proud for the performance of my players. I'm very proud because they gave all of them their best, with the right mentality, with the right blood, with the right character.

"And I'm disappointed just for the result, for my players and for the fans, because it was an incredible atmosphere today.

"It is tough. Every one of us knows it is a tough moment, it is a difficult situation, but we have another five games and 15 points.

"This team is able to win five games in a row. Now it is difficult to hear my words, but if you watch the players and analyse the level of the players, I think we can win five games in a row."

Despite the disappointing result, Tottenham did put on a promising performance, spearheaded by Simons, who assisted the opener before scoring the second.

"He played very well, a great game, " said the Spurs boss.

"I think he can play better and better, because a player like this, he needs to feel confidence from the manager.

"I think I'm lucky to have this player on my team, but also he's lucky because with number 10, I can understand better than other coaches."

De Zerbi will be hoping for more performances like today's from the Dutch midfielder if Tottenham are to escape this relegation battle.

Tottenham Hotspur will have spent a week inside the bottom three of the Premier League before they kick off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Roberto De Zerbi is Spurs' third manager of the season. His reign began with a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland last week and the pressure will be on when he faces one of his former employers on Saturday, April 19.

The Seagulls have improved themselves in recent weeks and they come into this game having won their last three league games and winning four out of their last five.

When the sides met earlier in the season, back in September, it ended in a 2-2 draw.

The side from the south coast are currently ninth in the table and have ambitions of securing European football once again. It will not be an easy game for Spurs but it is a challenge that they have to rise to due to the games running out.

Now or never?

There may be a feeling for Spurs that it is a case of now or never in terms of the time they have to save their Premier League status.

They have not won a league game since the end of December and it is now mid April.

Some may say there is little to suggest that they are going to win this game but there has to be a belief that they can turn it around still.

Notably, Spurs play before their rivals this weekend with Nottingham Forest and West Ham not playing until Sunday and Monday.

Therefore, it is a chance for Spurs to put the pressure on their rivals if they can get a win.

A draw, although an improvement on what has gone before, would not be enough for Spurs. They need wins and there will now be an urgency around the situation.

Although they travel to the league's bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers next week and will be expected to win that one, there may likely be a feeling that the results have to come this week.

It may only take one win to provide the boost but it has been a long time without one.

The psychological factor of being in the bottom three?

The challenge now is that Spurs have dropped into the relegation zone, after West Ham won last week, and they missed the chance to climb out immediately by winning at Sunderland.

They will have spent a week in the drop zone and the pressure is on them to get the results required to climb out.

If they win the game then they give them a chance of getting out but they have to do their job.

Throughout the early months of 2026, Spurs had a four point lead over the sides below them but that has soon evaporated. They are now the ones doing the chasing, as opposed to being chased.

Their rivals are picking up points at a far better rate than them and would appear to have much more confidence.

Spurs need a reaction and De Zerbi will want to see something from his side.

The worry would be that, unlike Nottingham Forest for example, many of the Spurs players do not have experience of a relegation battle.

Home form needs to improve

In their last home game, Spurs lost 3-0 to Forest and that was a disappointing day for everyone associated with the club.

Before that match there was the feeling of a cup final and the supporters of the north London side greeted their team bus to stadium and backed their side ahead of the kick-off.

Throughout the second half, many supporters headed for the exits early and that has been the case in recent home fixtures.

That is partly because they have only won two home league games all season, against Burnley and Brentford.

The only point they have achieved at home in 2026 came in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

There has been very little for fans to cheer. However, things need to change and Saturday's game will provide an opportunity for change.

There are plenty of key games to come but their next home fixture after this one is against fellow potential relegation rivals Leeds United.

They have to make the stadium an intimidating place for opponents to come.

On what could be a decisive final day of the season, De Zerbi's side are also at home to Everton so they will want to make that an advantage and not a hindrance.

Another injury

Spurs have experienced an injury crisis throughout this season and parts of last season too.

De Zerbi will not use this as an excuse and the previous managers did not either.

However, the latest blow to the side is that their captain Cristian Romero left the pitch last week at the Stadium of Light with an injury and has since been ruled out for the rest of the season.

It is the latest addition to a lengthy injury list and the timing is inevitably frustrating for the player and the club.

However, the club will have to adapt and find a solution.

The game on Saturday, April 19 will likely attract a significant amount of attention from fans of all clubs as Spurs' struggles have been one of the stories of the season.

They have a chance to quieten some of the noise with a win against Brighton.

There can be no excuses as the time to deliver has to be now.

If they were to lose again and their rivals then pick up points then De Zerbi would have a real challenge ahead of him.

Igor Tudor talked about the astonishment of the 5-2 loss for Tottenham against Atletico Madrid.

The team that are one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League landed in the Spanish capital in abysmal domestic form. They hoped for respite from the battle for survival with the same form that saw them finish fourth in the league phase of the Champions League. That did not happen.

Antonin Kinsky took centre stage on a night to forget with two mistakes that saw Rojiblancos run up a three goal lead after just 17 minutes. Micky van de Ven slipped on the way to the hosts’ second goal, Atletico were 4-0 up after 22 minutes, and a big Richarlison miss immediately preceded the second half strike from Julian Alvarez. It feels like Tudor’s time in the dugout is already up.

“I need to apologise to the fans, to everyone. It’s incredibly difficult to explain, at least for the first 20 minutes, I've never seen in my life, things like this. It’s very strange to explain.

“I’m sorry for Toni also. I need to talk to him, to preserve him, to help him, to help the team. It was not a nice thing, but Toni understands. He's a very good goalkeeper, a very good guy.

“So, we need to stay together now, try to help each other in a difficult moment. It’s very difficult to explain, It's like everything is going wrong, even in the end, this headache with two players now (Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha clashed heads late in the game), and we're going to see what we do for Liverpool - amazing, incredible things.

“Of course, you understand everything. it's a big lesson. It has unfortunately happened in this big game. We need to be supportive. It's not even about him, it's about us. We need to keep working.”

To say that Tottenham Hotspur have a problem would be a seismic understatement.

The club sacked Ange Postecoglou weeks after winning their first piece of silverware in 17 years, only to sack his successor, Thomas Frank, months later.

Frank had unknowingly led the Lilywhites into a relegation fight and, as Leeds, West Ham and Nottingham Forest gradually closed the gap, the Spurs board pulled the plug on the former Brentford boss.

In a bid to turn their season around with fresh ideas and innovation, Spurs turned to Igor Tudor, a manager known best for playing a three-at-the-back wingback system, uncanny in its similarities to the tactics used, unsuccessfully, by his predecessor.

With only Conor Gallagher joining Spurs in the January window, weeks before Frank’s dismissal, the situation was… odd.

The same players and tactics were expected to yield different results at the most crucial stage of the campaign.

Unsurprisingly, Tottenham’s fortunes have not changed on the pitch, while tensions and emotion has risen drastically off it.

Now, just two points above the drop zone in the Premier League, Spurs’ latest embarrassment, a 5-2 thrashing at Atletico Madrid, is a low that Tudor cannot come back from.

It is abundantly evident that the players have lacked what little faith they may have initially had in the Croatian, with a lack of hunger, fight and cutting edge culpable for their demise in the Spanish capital.

The transfer window is fixed shut until long after the season ends, when Spurs’ future in the top flight of English football will already have been decided. Something needs to change, and fast.

It cannot be the players, so Tudor must go.

Let one thing be clear, however, the former Juventus boss is not solely responsible for his new employers’ woes, far from it.

But whatever the specifics and causes of Spurs’ issues, of which there are many, do not matter here and now.

Whether you are discontent with the board, unhappy with certain players or dissatisfied with the general direction of the club’s trajectory, there is not enough time in their nine remaining Premier League games to make meaningful changes to those areas.

Spurs need somebody to make an immediate difference, not a lasting one. Tudor’s appointment on a deal until the end of the season is proof that the club agree, but now they must recognise that their judgement was wrong, and roll the dice again - but the stakes are far higher this time.

Get it wrong again, and midweek visits to Madrid could soon be replaced with Saturdays in Stoke, all while their north London rivals hurtle towards a first Premier League title in 22 years.

The exact solution is not an obvious one, but what Spurs need is clear: belief. With players seemingly giving up mid-game, sometimes even mid-run, it is easy to see how things have unravelled so quickly.

In fact, asked after the game whether he believes he deserves to continue as Spurs boss, Tudor responded, emotionless, “No comment,” in a scene more reminiscent of a trial than a Champions League press conference.

Tudor cannot be confident that he deserves to continue after a mere four games at the helm, so how can he expect any player to get behind his ideas? He cannot.

If Spurs are to retain their Premier League status, it will not be pretty. Holding onto hopes of easy-on-the-eye, free-flowing football is pointless and will only lead the Lilywhites closer to the edge of a perilous cliff face.

Tactics remain important, but should be rendered subordinate to the rapid change in mood needed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

One of the biggest hurdles facing any prospective new boss to improve morale among the squad is to regalvernise the fanbase. Tudor has cut a lonesome figure for himself in record time, while his predecessor’s media comments alienated him from much of the fanbase.

Somebody who knows the club and gets what it means to the fans is essential. The worry for Spurs is that candidates who fit that admittedly limited criteria are of even shorter supply.

A perhaps obvious candidate would be Ryan Mason. A two-time interim boss at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Mason left the Lilywhites in June 2025 to become Championship side West Bromwich Albion’s head coach.

Just seven months later, in January, Mason was sacked, with the Baggies 18th at the time, just seven points from the drop zone. Though since his dismissal, West Brom have plummeted to new lows, currently sitting 22nd, two points from safety.

Though his credentials as a manager in his own right are sub-optimal, Mason has always enjoyed a strong relationship with Spurs supporters and, as a two-time interim boss of the club, will already have a rapport with some players, a bond which could prove crucial so late into the campaign.

Mauricio Pochettino cuts an interesting figure in Spurs’ managerial debate. One of the most-loved managers in the club’s history, the Argentine was in attendance at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday, an invited witness to his former side’s slaughter.

If reports are to be believed, Pochettino is a front-runner for the permanent Spurs job in the summer, when Tudor’s interim contract will end, if it is not done prematurely, but there is a fundamental issue with any talk of an early arrival for the 2021/22 Ligue 1 winner.

He is currently the manager of the United States and, with a home World Cup just three months away, the US are unlikely to consider his departure, or allowing him to split his responsibilities to occupy both roles, at present.

An outsider who meets the criteria, Harry Redknapp, has not managed professionally since a brief stint at Birmingham City in 2017, but even he looks an unlikely option, with the 79-year-old due to appear in ITV’s ‘I’m A Celebrity South Africa’ in April.

Whoever Spurs decide to move forward with, it cannot be Tudor; that much is clear. There is too much at stake to persist with the same failed ideas and expect to reap new rewards.

Before the game, new Tottenham Hotspur boss Igor Tudor insisted that the Premier League remains the club's priority.

Judging by their performance as Atletico Madrid put five past them, that message was received loud and clear by the players, though it was less warmly received by the club's travelling supporters.

As the threat of relegation looms large, the tension and emotion have spilt over from the pitch and polluted the fanbase.

That much was abundantly apparent on the flight from Manchester to Madrid, where doom talk persisted, and some let their entire fanbase down with their abusive behaviour towards female flight attendants.

There is almost always a level of rowdiness on European away nights, the result of a cocktail of alcohol and excitement. But this was different, a consequence of anger, frustration and immaturity.

It took until just the sixth minute for Spurs' resolve to crumble, as Julian Alvarez laid it off to Marcos Llorente on the edge of the box, allowing the Argentine to place a powerful strike into the bottom corner with ease.

Eight minutes later, Antoine Griezmann doubled the hosts’ lead after a mistake from Micky Van de Ven gifted the Frenchman possession. One-on-one with Kinsky, Griezmann took plenty of time to unsettle the 22-year-old and slotted home with ease from point-blank range.

Less than 60 seconds later, the scale of the disaster that was unfolding for Spurs reached almost comedic levels.

A complete mis-kick from Kinsky presented Alvarez with the ball nine yards from an empty net, and the World Cup winner made no mistake from close range.

Three became four in the 22nd minute when a scramble in the box looked to have been desperately cleared just in time, but a check of the watch saw referee Serdar Gozubuyuk award a goal, deeming that the ball crossed the line after a final touch from defender Robin Le Normand.

It looked like anything Atletico touched would turn into a goal, but while some were frantically checking the competition’s biggest win in history, Spurs pulled one back.

An intelligent touch unlocked Pedro Porro in the box after taking the ball around Matteo Ruggeri, and the Spanish full-back finished excellently at full stretch to cut into the deficit.

The start of one of the great comebacks? A chance to save face on a night that could have ended in embarrassment? Likely neither, but if nothing else, the unexpected setback for the hosts helped settle the game after a chaotic start, which saw five goals in the opening 26 minutes.

While it may seem difficult to believe without having watched the match, Atletico were not the all-empowering force that the half-time scoreline implies.

But the crucial difference is that, while chances fell for both sides, Spurs looked uneasy on each occasion, whereas the stadium preemptively rose with virtually every touch that the hosts had in the Spurs half.

Tudor opted for a double change at the break, with something needing to give. Priority or not, Spurs were on the brink of an embarrassment of the magnitude that their fragile mentality could ill-afford at such a crucial point in the club’s history.

A similar tale of profligacy versus deadly precision unfolded, and the outcome was the same as Atletico extended their lead in the 55th minute.

In truth, there was no better example of the very nature of the game than this goal, as a saved Richarlison header at one end immediately kick-started a counter for the hosts, which saw Alvarez net his brace just 13 seconds after the Brazilian’s saved attempt.

Another consolation arrived in the 76th minute when Solanke reduced the deficit back to three. It was Jan Oblak’s time to make a mistake between the sticks, as he ceded possession under pressure from the English striker.

Porro collected the loose ball and fed it back into Solanke, who made no mistake one-on-one to make it 5-2.

But, truthfully, this did little to save Spurs’ blushes. Losing 5-2 against an Atletico side who did not look extraordinary, to lose their sixth consecutive game in all competitions, felt like an unacceptable new low.

Excluding the second leg of this tie, Spurs have nine games to save their season and preserve their Premier League status.

If they are to do that, something needs to change, and, with the transfer window firmly shut, it will not be the players.

Pedro Porro talked ahead of the trip to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

Tottenham have been in poor form in the Premier League, but their away form has been some of the best in the division, and they have taken that level into Europe, having finished in the top eight of the league phase. Now, they must prepare to play against a passionate opponent in the Spanish capital.

As Porro returns to his homeland, he believes his side can rise to the occasion. And he is particularly pleased with the return of the club captain and a fellow defender who raises the level at the back.

"Good evening, everyone. To answer your question, yes. I think we need to have the right mindset for the [Tuesday] game. I've warned the players that we are coming to a very tough ground to play in. I like watching football, and I think we do have the proper mindset for this clash.

“We have not been able to achieve the consistency we wanted. It could be because of different circumstances, but in the Champions League, we've competed well, we've done things right, and this is the reason why we are here. We also need to look at the positive side. The team has competed well in Europe, and we just need to do our best in the Premier League.

"It depends on how you look at [who is the favourite]. We were fourth on the table in the league phase, and they've had an amazing season. So, we just hope to give our best for tomorrow on it. I hope it goes well for us.

Pedro Porro has lent his support to Igor Tudor in the Tottenham dugout.

The side suffered a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace in the Premier League, slipping within one point of the relegation zone, and the Spanish defender received attention for his reaction to his substitution.

However, Porro gave no indication that he is not behind the new man on the sidelines. A unified front is key for the club at the end of this campaign as the drop zone looms larger than ever.

“Since I found out [Igor] was coming to the club, I knew he was going to be a manager that would help us a lot. All the players know that we need to be on the right path with him. We know that he's only in for three weeks now and he just needs to learn everything about us, and the other way around. We're on the right path.

"I just want to make it clear, [my anger] was not about the manager. I am a player who gives it all on the pitch, 200%, and we never like losing, it's just about that. So, to end all the speculation that he was about the manager. We've never seen ourselves in this situation. So, it was just my reaction.

“[The last few months] have not been easy because of everything we've gone through. I had a minor injury a few weeks ago, and I just need to be ready. I could tell you, they have been tough times, but this does not affect my mindset and my teammates' mindset. We always want to do our best.

“The past few weeks have not gone our way, have not gone the way we expected. We just need to keep going until the end and do things as well as possible.

"This is a tough situation. The important thing, now that we are here, is to focus on tomorrow's game, and this is what matters."

Tottenham Hotspur are in poor form in the Premier League, suffering yet another defeat to Crystal Palace last week, and face a real battle to avoid the drop.

They have lost their last five league games and are currently 16th in the table, with some important games on the horizon.

However, in the UEFA Champions League, they progressed automatically to the Round of 16 after finishing in the top eight during the League Phase.

Their reward is a tie against Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone's side had to go through the Playoff Round last month, where they beat Belgian side Club Brugge over two legs.

The Spanish side come into this game on the back of a 3-2 home win against Real Sociedad at the weekend. They have also won their last three games in La Liga and are currently third in the table, only behind Barcelona and Real Madrid.

A welcome distraction?

Over the last two seasons, Spurs have struggled in the Premier League. Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank and now Igor Tudor have all failed to pick up points.

Yet in European competitions they have looked a different side.

Last season, Postecoglou led them to victory in the UEFA Europa League and delivered the trophy that the club had been craving.

That win against Manchester United secured a spot in this season's Champions League.

Playing in the top competition in European club football, they have picked up some important wins and put in some excellent performances.

A standout result would be the win against Borussia Dortmund in January and an inspiring attacking performance away at Paris Saint-Germain, where they narrowly lost 5-3 in the end against last year's winners.

Therefore, despite their difficulties in the domestic league, they may head to the Spanish capital with a sense of freedom and a belief that they can get a result.

Ironically, in the Premier League they have been better away from home yet in Europe they are unbeaten at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This may also provide a source of confidence ahead of next week's second leg.

In knockout football, anything is possible and Spurs will want to make the most of their place in the competition.

The ongoing problems cannot be ignored

This could be a difficult game for Spurs to approach because their problems cannot be ignored, survival in the top flight must be the priority.

They will, inevitably, be keen to progress in Europe and look to give themselves the best chance of remaining in the tie ahead of the second leg.

There may be a feeling that the draw could have been tougher and that Atletico are beatable and, if everything goes Spurs' way, they could potentially go through to the Quarter Finals.

Alternatively, given their recent league form, it could be a tie too far and a reminder of their current struggles and the reality of where they find themselves at the moment.

They have a trip to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday and that will be a tough game, but next weekend they are at home to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and that is a game that they cannot afford to lose.

Equally, if Igor Tudor decides to rest some players in Europe ahead of the league games then it could turn into a very difficult and unpleasant night for the Londoners.

Supporters travelling to Spain may do so more in hope than any real expectation and some may view it as a tie that Spurs could do without.

Can Igor Tudor gain any form of momentum?

There is little doubt that the interim manager needs something. He has lost his three games in charge so far 4-1, 2-1 and 3-1. That is a record that needs to change if Spurs are to avoid the drop.

There has not been much to cheer this season and the reality of the situation has set in.

Regardless of the result, Tudor may want to see some positive aspects that he can take away from this fixture and feel that they could be applied to their league games.

Hiring Tudor was a gamble but so far it is not working.

There will likely be the hope that a win or a draw away in Spain could at least stop the rot and give them something to build on ahead of the trip to Anfield and the Forest game.

There is no reason to say that Spurs must sacrifice the Champions League and relegation rivals Forest face a similar balancing act as they are competing in the Europa League.

There is a world where Spurs stay up and progress to the latter stages of Europe, but to do that they need to start winning games. It is as simple as that.

However, the cost of relegation would be far more damaging than a European exit.