Antonin Kinsky’s Champions League debut was a night to forget in Madrid.
Handed a surprise start by interim manager Igor Tudor, the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper was substituted after 17 nightmarish minutes in which Spurs fell behind Atletico 3-0 in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie.
The 22-year-old Czech Republic native was drafted into the starting XI in place of the beleaguered Guglielmo Vicario.
The hosts were ahead after only six minutes when Kinsky mishit a goal kick that landed at the feet of Julian Alvarez, who squared for Marcus Llorente to open the scoring.
In the 14th, Atleti doubled their lead, but this was hardly the fault of Kinsky. Some Keystone Kops-level defending from Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence led to an Antoine Griezmann goal to make it 2-0. Only seconds later, Kinsky flubbed a back pass to allow Alvarez to poke home into an empty net to make it 3-0.
Tudor then turned to Vicario as Kinsky left the pitch in tears to a sympathetic hand from the Athleti supporters.
A native of Prague, Kinsky is in his second season at Spurs. He was making his 13th appearance across all competitions.
Spurs sit 16th in the Premier League on 29 points, one point clear of the relegation zone with nine matches remaining. They visit sixth-place Liverpool on Sunday having lost five straight league matches amid an 11-match winless run. Spurs last won a Premier League match on Dec. 28.
