Tottenham’s top three most memorable European comebacks can serve as Atletico Madrid inspiration

Tottenham Hotspur need a big comeback against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, but the club have been in similar situations before and prevailed.

Here are four occasions when Tottenham Hotspur defied the odds and came back from large deficits in the Champions League and Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur 8-1 Górnik Zabrze – 1961/62

Spurs played in Europe for the first time ever after winning the double in 1961, but got off to a bad start against Gornik Zabrze.

The Polish club were 4-0 up in the first leg, but Cliff Jones and Terry Dyson managed to pull two back to give the away team a fighting chance.

Jones continued to impress at White Hart Lane, bagging a hat-trick as Tottenham thrashed Gornik by eight goals to one.

It was not only a brilliant performance, but the first time Glory Glory Hallelujah was sung from the terraces, a club anthem which remains popular to this very day.

Inter Milan 4-3 Spurs – 2010/11

Does this count as a comeback, considering Tottenham lost the game? We think so, as it undoubtedly gave the team belief for the rest of the campaign. 

Spurs conceded in the second minute at the San Siro, before Heurelho Gomes was sent off in the eighth after a foul in the penalty box. The visitors were forced to withdraw Luka Modric in order to bring on another Carlo Cudicini, and Samuel Eto’o scored from the spot kick.

The ex-AC Milan goalkeeper conceded again three minutes later and once more in the 35th minute, leaving Tottenham four goals and a man down at half-time.

However, Gareth Bale meant business in the second half, and he pulled one back early on, before finding the net twice more in stoppage time.

It was a superb display from the Welshman, and he was really positive again when Spurs defeated Inter 3-1 two weeks later. They went on to top their group and knock out AC Milan in the last 16, before exiting the tournament in the quarter-finals after a defeat to Real Madrid.

Ajax 2-3 Tottenham – 2018/19

Almost seven years have passed, and this one somehow feels like it happened yesterday, yet also a lifetime ago.

Spurs barely made it past the group stage, but went on to secure massive triumphs over Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively.

Then came Ajax, who won 1-0 at White Hart Lane, which could hardly be called a shock. After all, the Eredivisie club had already knocked out both Real Madrid and Juventus, so the threat they posed was well documented.

Tottenham struggled to perform in the second leg and were already 2-0 down at half-time. However, Lucas Moura stepped up, and the rest is history. If only he had been selected to start in the Champions League final!

Spurs knocking out Atletico Madrid is not impossible

If Tottenham defeat Atletico on aggregate, it will probably be an even bigger shock than the Ajax tie, but there were some visible improvements against Liverpool last Sunday.

Also, Atletico almost suffered a scare in the Copa Del Rey recently, as they beat Barcelona 4-0 in the semi-final first leg, only to lose 3-0 in the second.

Any kind of comeback seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened. The most important thing is that the players show fight and belief, and that this energy is matched by those watching on at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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