The Tottenham goalkeeper had a nightmare in Madrid as the rain fell and the goals poured in as he lasted just 16 minutes on his Champions League debut
Antonin Kinsky was done. In just 16 minutes his Champions League debut had self-destructed and he marched straight down the tunnel.
It had been the right decision to take him off, even if it was brutal. The Spurs defence had lost all confidence and so had he. The question is whether this was the right game to throw the 22-year-old into in the first place - such a huge occasion without a single minute to his name since October.
Igor Tudor had been deep in discussion with captain Cristian Romero before the interim Tottenham boss turned to the man he had dropped - Guglielmo Vicario - to prepare to come on and save him and the team.
With the change made, Kinsky walked straight down the tunnel, his face full of emotion, and Tudor did not even look at the Czech, nor offer an explanatory or consolatory word.
Instead Spurs substitutes Dominic Solanke, Conor Gallagher and Joao Palhinha raced after him to console him.
Tudor claimed that he made the decision to protect Kinsky and the team and that he had explained it in the dressing room to him afterwards.
He said he had selected the keeper, known as "Toni" around the club, in order to put pressure on Vicario, who has recorded more clean sheets in the Champions League than any other goalkeeper this season.
Kinsky is acknowledged to be better with his feet than the Italian, while Vicario is the more assured shot stopper. Yet it was Kinsky's feet that let him down miserably on Tuesday night amid the rain in Spain, albeit on a controversial re-laid pitch that has caused problems for Atletico themselves and their opponents in the past month.
Both Tudor and Atletico boss Diego Simeone said they had never seen anything like those 16 minutes of football and it's difficult to see Kinsky's Tottenham career recovering from this unless he can rebuild elsewhere and return. It's likely the club will have a new number one next summer regardless.
The players will gather around Kinsky but confidence is a big thing, not only within a player but from those around them. The sight of him slumped on the turf with his face in his hands as Julian Alvarez scored will be an enduring one.
“It’s terrible for him, he’s making his debut. You wouldn’t wish this on anyone," Micky van de Ven told Dutch media outlet Ziggo Sport.
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Kinsky is young enough that he can rebuild his confidence elsewhere. West Ham wanted to sign him in the winter window but his path may end up abroad, away from the noise that will linger around him.
Previous loan moves have been blocked by Spurs with plenty of interest in the stopper but they will not stand in his way this summer when the window opens.
He needs to get away and construct from the foundations again. Clips of his 16 minutes from hell will have gone viral across the world but nowhere is the scrutiny as constant as the Premier League.
Other goalkeepers have been gaffe-strewn in the English game but have reset at other clubs, Spurs stoppers among them.
Paul Robinson found his career begin to slide after that bobble and missed kick for England and he had his say on Kinsky and Tudor after watching live in Madrid.
"The manager certainly hasn't helped Kinsky at all," Robinson told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "Nobody will understand where he is and there is nobody who knows you've made a mistake more than you as a goalkeeper.
"Unfortunately it is a very lonely place and that has been highlighted and magnified by the manager making that substitution. Him making that change after 16 minutes is going to be talked about worldwide. For him that will be soul-destroying.
"He's probably sat alone in the dressing room for the rest of the first half, I wouldn't be surprised if he was in tears in that situation."
He added: "It's a really difficult thing to handle, but I think actually it's a very selfish decision from the manager because he knows that he's not here for long. He's making decisions that he thinks will keep him in a job and keep Spurs in the Premier League.
"It was a very selfish decision. He bought Kinsky in because Vicario has been poor in the league and I think he thought if Kinsky did well he had an excuse to keep him in for the rest of the season.
"He reverted on that decision very early. I've never seen a manager substitute a goalkeeper so early and so clearly as a result of mistakes. It's quite blatantly for self-preservation for the manager because he thinks it was the best decision for him at the time without consideration for the young goalkeeper."
Goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel went in just as strong in his analysis as the goalkeeper union closed ranks around Kinsky.
"I feel really, really sorry for him, You make mistakes, you know, he's put him in goal. Obviously, he's costing the team the opportunity to win. Not that Tottenham have any opportunity to win. I mean, it was a terrible performance," said the CBS Sports pundit.
"But when this happened, when you look at the clock there, 14:55, what does Igor Tudor then? Well, he substitutes him. That's going to have ramifications for the rest of his career. This will be a moment that everybody in football will always remember every time they see and hear his name.
"You make your choice as a coach and yes, it wasn't going your way and you're 3-0 down, there's no way that this team would ever come back from that. You've got to stick with him and at least stick until half-time
"What he's done there, for me, he's absolutely killed his career. That's going to take something to get over that."
Spurs will offer Kinsky help with the mental side of what has happened whether through their goalkeeping coaches or other means. Many players have their own specialists. Xavi Simons for example employs his own mindset coach.
What will also help Kinsky is that goalkeeping is in his blood. His father, who bears the same name, was a Czech international goalkeeper and will have overcome plenty during his long career. Now 50, there will be plenty of paternal advice and guidance for Kinsky Jr.
Anyone can slip - and most Spurs players did in Madrid - but it will be the second mistake that Kinsky will need to bounce back from.
The Tottenham goalkeeper will be down but not out. This is just the beginning of his path and he must not let one night in the rain define him. This should not be Czech mate.
