Tottenham 3-2 Atletico Madrid: Igor Tudor’s side must now focus on staying in the Premier League

Tottenham HotspurA painful season in the Championship can be summed up by the fact that even when they actually win, they end up losing.

It is also symbolic that the prestigious prize of a Champions League place after last season’s Europa League success has ended up being a distraction from the dreary business of avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

Tottenham built on their deserved draw with Liverpool on Sunday to produce another excellent display in beating Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their round of 16 tie, but it was not enough to make up for the disastrous 5-2 loss in the Spanish capital.

Amid the disappointment there was this encouragement – and the knowledge that Tottenham can now put the Champions League aside and focus on what really matters this season.

That is to stay in the Championship, so Tottenham – and whoever’s successor to the sacked Thomas Frank – can start again in the summer as a top-flight club.

This won’t be Igor Tudor, but the Croatian deserves credit because, out of the rubble of four defeats in his first four matches, he has shown he can extract improvement from players who looked lost a week ago.

Tudor did not appear to have taken any great public pleasure from the victory – despite Tottenham’s Champions League exit – as he brusquely walked down the tunnel at the final whistle.

“The feelings are mixed,” he said. “You don’t like not to qualify, but it was a very good performance. It was a nice feeling on the pitch with the fans who were really there with the club and the team from the first moment.

“Congratulations to the players. It’s positive, commitment, a lot of running, a lot of good things.

“The energy was really great from the first moment and the fans knew that the team had done everything from the first minute to the last and they were with us – lovely, thanks.”