Tottenham Focuses On Premier League Survival Ahead Of Champions League Challenge Under Tudor

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Igor Tudor stressed that avoiding relegation stays Tottenham’s main task, even as Spurs prepare for a Champions League last-16 first leg at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, with the club sitting just one point above the Premier League drop zone after a long winless league run.

The head coach enters the Metropolitano tie under pressure, having become only the second Spurs manager in Premier League history to lose the first three league matches, after a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace extended the side’s poor domestic form.

Spurs have gone 11 Premier League games without victory for the first time since October 1975 under Terry Neill, with seven draws and four defeats in that sequence, and Opta’s supercomputer now gives the team a 16.8% chance of relegation, compared with 26.4% for Nottingham Forest and 48.9% for West Ham United.

That league situation shapes the club’s schedule around Europe, as Tottenham travel to Liverpool between the two legs with Atletico Madrid, then host 17th-placed Nottingham Forest after the return match, in a home fixture that could carry major weight in the fight to stay in the Premier League.

Despite league struggles, Spurs carry positive Champions League momentum into Spain, having won three straight matches in the competition without conceding, and losing only once across their last five meetings with Spanish clubs in the Champions League, a 4-2 home defeat to Barcelona during the 2018-19 group stage.

"[We must]focus on us, we're playing against a team that has a story in this Champions League, they have experience, they have quality,Tudor told reporters. We need to do our best in terms of what we need to grow. Our first aim is the Premier League; this should be said publicly, it's a normal thing. This [competition]is something extra, but that doesn't mean we don't want to pass (through), that we don't want to go to the next round."

The coach views the tie with Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid as a chance to reset Tottenham’s mentality, suggesting the different demands of Champions League knockout football may expose weaknesses and also offer solutions that can support improvements in the final phase of the domestic season.

"Every game is important. We need to be focused on us, to grow, so it can be an opportunity, Tudor added. A totally different mentality aspect can be used in this kind of game, so maybe this can help us to see which problems we have. I believe these kinds of games can help us to switch in the right way, but always focus on us growing as a team. To do things better."

Tottenham Spurs Premier League squad news for Champions League tie

Team selection offers some encouragement for Tottenham, as defender Djed Spence returns to availability and captain Cristian Romero is back from suspension to play under Tudor for the first time, while forward Richarlison, used from the bench in Tudor’s opening three matches, is now confirmed as a starter against Atletico Madrid.

"Players are coming back, that's important, said Tudor. In all three games we missed the players on their positions and we missed the players who are usually playing. It's a beautiful game to play tomorrow, a totally different competition than the Premier League. There is a good experience from this season, past games, so let's see what happens tomorrow."

Tudor’s comments underline a clear hierarchy of objectives for Tottenham, with Premier League safety described as the primary target and the Champions League framed as an additional test that could still deliver progress to the next round, sharpen the squad’s mindset, and support performances in crucial domestic fixtures that follow.