Ruthless Atletico punish Tottenham errors in 5-2 Champions League rout

MADRID, March 10 : Atletico Madrid tore Tottenham Hotspur apart in a stunning first-half blitz on Tuesday, powering to a 5-2 victory in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and leaving the Premier League side with a mountain to climb in London.

The visitors' 22-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky endured a night to forget on his first appearance since October and only his third of the season.

Two costly errors from the Czech helped Atletico race into a commanding lead and he was substituted in the 17th minute by manager Igor Tudor immediately after Atletico's third goal.

Marcos Llorente struck after six minutes when Kinsky slipped while playing the ball out and Antoine Griezmann doubled the lead in the 14th when Micky van de Ven also lost his footing.

A minute later Julian Alvarez walked in the third after Kinsky miscued a clearance, the earliest a team has gone three goals up in a Champions League knockout match.

After Kinsky was replaced by Guglielmo Vicario, Atletico added a fourth when Robin Le Normand's header crossed the line following a rebound from Griezmann's free kick. Tottenham defender Pedro Porro reduced the deficit after 26 minutes.

Alvarez then raced from his own half to score the hosts' fifth goal in the 55th before Dominic Solanke punished an error by Atletico keeper Jan Oblak which gifted Spurs a second goal.

"We're very happy with the win and the three-goal lead, but there are still 90 minutes left to play on their home turf,” Alvarez told Movistar Plus.

"We know what this competition is like. Every detail counts, it's not going to be easy, but we want to be in the quarter-finals."

ATLETICO SEIZE CONTROL

Diego Simeone's Atletico side needed barely a quarter of an hour at the Metropolitano stadium