Tottenham Hotspur supporters are pretty immune to the misery that defeats can cause at this point but, even by their own standards, that was a bad one. On Tuesday night, Spurs were 4-0 down after just 22 minutes against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, with goalkeeper Antonín Kinský hooked by Igor Tudor after just 17 minutes following two calamitous errors. In the end, the Lilywhites only lost 5-2 at the Metropolitano which, given the start, actually was not too bad.
This, astonishingly, was Tottenham's 45th defeat since the start of last season, if you include the UEFA Super Cup shootout defeat as a loss. This means Spurs fans have watched their team lose more frequently that pretty much anyone else in Europe during this period:
Teams with most defeats across Europe's top 12 leagues (24/25 & 25/26)
Clubs | Matches played | Defeats |
|---|---|---|
Tottenham Hotspur | 102 | 45 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | 79 | 44 |
Heidenheim | 75 | 43 |
Winterthur | 73 | 41 |
Aberdee | 92 | 39 |
Hellas Verona | 69 | 39 |
Girona | 77 | 38 |
Panserraikos | 64 | 38 |
Lecce | 70 | 37 |
Nice | 84 | 36 |
AVS Futebol | 67 | 36 |
West Ham United | 74 | 35 |
Antalyaspor | 72 | 35 |
Pardubice | 68 | 35 |
Grasshoppers | 76 | 34 |
Cagliari | 72 | 34 |
Cercle Brugge | 84 | 33 |
Le Havre | 61 | 33 |
Note: Only clubs that have been in their top-flight in both 24/25 & 25/26 have been included.
Looking at all of Europe's major leagues, no team has lost more matches across all competitions since the start of last season than Tottenham's tally of 44. Their European adventures mean Spurs have played more than anyone else, but this is still a staggering statistic.
Of the other contenders, Hellas Verona, Heidenheim, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Winterthur, AVS Futebol and Panserraikos all appear destine for relegation, so could the same happen to Spurs?
Well, if West Ham manage to beat Manchester City on Saturday night, and then Nottingham Forest win against Fulham on Sunday, Spurs would kick off at Anfield in the relegation zone, at which point it really feels real, if it does not already.
The mauling in Madrid makes the second leg of that Champions League tie a mere formality, but remaining a Premier League club has to be the main priority. The entire Tottenham support is now against Tudor, and it's frankly baffling that he remains in situ, amid reports that Sean Dyche has turned down the possibility of taking the job.
Spurs will venture to Merseyside having lost six successive matches for the first time in the club's 143-year history, with little reason to suggest that this sequence is going to come to an end. A week later, Forest will visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, at which point they may be below Vítor Pereira's team. So, with the second leg against Atlético and nine Premier League fixtures still to play, that tally of defeats could still exponentially increase.