Tottenham replace goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky within 17 minutes in a 2-5 defeat in the Champions League

For Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky it was perhaps the most humiliating Champions League debut of all time.

Two missteps. Three goals conceded. And changed within 17 minutes.

No wonder the 22-year-old Czech player looked inconsolable as he walked through the tunnel of the Metropolitano Stadium, while two teammates caught up with him to express their condolences.

Making his first start since October and only his third appearance all season, Kinsky endured a nightmarish start to the last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday when he was fouled while slipping while taking a free ball in the sixth minute, allowing Marcos Llorente to open the scoring.

Shortly after Antoine Griezmann made it 2-0 for Atletico, Kinsky tried to make a pass outside his area with his left foot for the first time, but misfired again.

The ball rolled into the path of Julian Alvarez, who had the simple task of firing the ball into an empty net. Tottenham were 3-0 behind after 15 minutes.

Kinsky lay face down with his hands covering his face. He stood up, but remained on his knees, with one arm over his knee.

It wasn’t long before he was pulled away by Igor Tudor, Tottenham’s hard-pressed interim manager whose bold call to leave out first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had backfired spectacularly.

Kinsky shook his head as he walked off the pitch – to some applause from sympathetic Atletico fans – to be replaced by Vicario and headed straight to the tunnel. One teammate was seen with his arm around Kinsky’s shoulder as they walked to the locker room.

Kinsky was signed by Tottenham from Slavia Prague in January last year amid an injury crisis in the goalkeeping department.

He was hailed as a goalkeeper for the future and was seen as particularly good with his feet.

Kinsky played ten games for Tottenham last season and gave up his starting place when Vicario recovered from a broken ankle in February.

His only two previous appearances this season came in the English League Cup, making it a big decision from Tudor to call up Kinsky for Tottenham’s biggest game of the season so far.

Kinsky clearly wasn’t ready for such a big event and Tudor will have questions to answer.

Vicario had put in some shaky performances of late, having conceded two or more goals in each of Tottenham’s last nine Premier League games, none of which the team had won. In fact, Tottenham have a club record eleven games without a win in the Premier League, with their last five games lost in the battle against relegation.

The Italian’s kicking and distribution in particular has come under scrutiny, most recently during the 1-3 home defeat to Crystal Palace last week.

Tudor chose to take Vicario out of the line of fire, but that didn’t last long.

It was the latest humiliation for Tottenham, who are just one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League with nine games to go.

Published on March 11, 2026