Atletico, without being above average in those ill-fated 23 minutes, were 4-0 up, Micky van de Ven also failing to keep his footing to present Antoine Griezmann with a goal.

The final score makes the second leg of this last 16 tie a formality. Spurs only have a fight for survival now.

Tudor’s unique selling point in a chequered, nomadic coach career was supposedly his ability to provide an instant spark of impact. At Spurs, this has been The Midas Touch in reverse. The Minus Touch.

Four defeats from four games is the worst start by anyone in charge at Spurs, with each one more damaging and demoralising than the last. Tudor is not arresting the Spurs crisis, he is accelerating it.

On his own future, Tudor said: “This is not a topic for me. This is not about my job. It is about helping the team.”

As yet, Tudor has not fulfilled his part of the bargain. His days must now be measured in very small numbers.

Tudor has demonstrated he is not afraid to make the big calls. The snag is he is getting them wrong when Spurs can ill-afford it.

Opinion will be divided on his decision to substitute Kinsky after only 17 minutes, between a coach saving the keeper from himself or a hard-nosed act that might kill a young player’s career.

It was a stunning move, smacking of a coach who either feels he had nothing to lose or possibly feels he has lost it already at Spurs.

He said in a brief post-match inquisition: “It was a very rare thing. I have never done this in 15 years of coaching. I did it to preserve the guy and to preserve the team.

“It was an incredible situation.”

Of course, Tudor cannot be held responsible for what happened to Kinsky, but it was symptomatic of how things have got worse on his watch.

What is firmly at Tudor’s door was that it was his bold decision to drop Vicario and play Kinsky and to say it back-fired is a masterpiece of under-statement.

When Kinsky’s number went up, it was left to his Spurs’ team-mates and even Atletico Madrid’s fans, who pushed their passion and partisanship to one side to offer sympathetic applause, to console him.

Tudor did not appear to have consolation on his mind as the heartbroken youngster came off.