As Tottenham Hotspur prepare for their Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid, football london took a look at the players expected to miss the second-leg
07:00, 17 Mar 2026Updated 09:23, 17 Mar 2026
Diego Simeone ahead of Atletico Madrid’s Champions League victory over Tottenham(Image: (Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images))
Igor Tudor could be missing as many as 12 players for Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid – however, Diego Simeone is expected to be without first-team goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Spurs trail the La Liga giants 5-2 after their first-half collapse in the Spanish capital. However, the mood has been improved slightly with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Liverpool on the weekend. The heat is still firmly on Igor Tudor, who has lost four of his first five matches.
His main focus will be on remaining in the Premier League, but with Atletico coming to north London for the second leg, his side will be expected to at least put up a fight. Unfortunately for the Croatian, he will have to do so without a huge number of players.
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Tudor will be without long-term absentees. James Maddison (ACL) and Dejan Kulusevski, who have not played a single minute of football this year, although there is a chance the latter may feature before the end of the campaign. When asked about the Swede, who has been out with a patella injury, Tudor said: “He’s had really big problems. But he’s positive. And also the doctors are positive. So we’ll see, next week, how it’s going.”
Moreover, Ben Davies has also seemingly played his last game after breaking his ankle against West Ham in January, while Rodrigo Bentancur is not expected to return until after March’s international break, having undergone hamstring surgery.
Wilson Odobert’s campaign was also ended with his ACL injury against Newcastle United, while Mohammed Kudus (hamstring) is not expected to feature again until April at the earliest. Lucas Bergvall is still battling back to fitness after having ankle surgery at the end of January, with an April return understood to be realistic.
Palinha and Romero will be assessed nearer the time(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
Yves Bissouma and Micky van de Ven also both missed the draw against Liverpool, and it remains to be seen if they will be fit to face Atletico. When it comes to left-back Destiny Udogie, Tudor suggested he may be fit to face Nottingham Forest this weekend but cast doubt on his hopes of playing in the Champions League.
Spurs fans will also be crossing their fingers Conor Gallagher will be well to face his former side after illness forced him to sit out the clash against the Merseysiders. A painful evening last Tuesday was also summed up by Spurs’ double injury blow at the very end of the battle at the Wanda Metropolitano.
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Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha clashed heads with each other in a freak collision, and both suffered a concussion. They had to miss the away trip to Liverpool, and it remains to be seen if they will be able to face Atletico.
However, Simeone also has some injury issues of his own. Oblak, who has been regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world for nearly ten years, will miss the game after suffering a muscle strain before Atletico’s 1-0 win over Getafe.
Second-choice keeper Juan Masso is expected to deputise. Meanwhile, Rodrigo Mendoza and Pablo Barrios are also understood to be absent with injuries of their own.
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