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Tudor and Porro on Tottenham's tough champions league trip to Atletico Madrid
09/03/2026
Uefa26 champions league
09/03/2026
Uefa26 champions league
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00:04Good evening, everybody. Welcome to our Matchday Minus 1 press conference ahead of tomorrow's
00:17UEFA Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid. I'm joined by Pedro Porro and our
00:21head coach, Igor Tudor. We'll take questions for both and ask for a maximum of two questions
00:26per reporter to get through as many as we can in the time we have.
00:30Please use the microphones provided. I presume there are microphones. And there's headsets
00:36available for translation. Who wants to go first?
00:41Yep.
00:47Good evening, Pedro. Here's Victor Iberescu for TV4 Guanajuato.
00:51Tomorrow you will play in one of the most difficult fields in Europe. Are you prepared? Thank you.
00:58Well, first of all, good evening. Respect to your question, yes, I think we have to have the
01:07mentalidad exacta for the party of tomorrow, because I believe that I have told my colleagues that we have
01:13come to a strong field. I have seen it during this season because I like to see football and the
01:19truth is that we have come to a strong mentality.
01:22I think we have to have a strong field, but I think we have to have a strong field.
01:35Hi, guys. First off, one for Igor. You said on Thursday night about the players who might want to be
01:42in your boat and the players who aren't in the boat. I just wondered, will we know by your team
01:47selection tomorrow who's in your boat?
01:50Well, first of all, as you know, we never said, but the players who are on this position, you saw
01:56this morning on the training. So we are happy that Romero is back.
02:02Jed is back.
02:06Bissouma is back.
02:06Bissouma is not in Souza, because of the rules we said in the Champions League.
02:10So the players are coming back. That's important. For the first time that I'm here, we will have a, let's
02:17say, available players to play in defence, on side, the players who are usually played.
02:22So the all three games happened that we missed the players on their positions and we missed the players who
02:28are usually playing. So beautiful game to play tomorrow.
02:35OK, so a total different competition than Premier League. There is a good experience from this season, past game. So
02:43let's see what happens tomorrow.
02:47Pedro, one for you as well. We saw when you came off on Thursday, you were very upset and obviously
02:52hitting your chair and getting angry.
02:55There's some fans that suggest that maybe the players don't care as much as they do. I mean, does that
03:01show how much you care?
03:03You weren't responding in English or in Spanish?
03:07What if it's more comfortable.
03:08Spanish, but yeah.
03:10No, bueno, fue una reacción propia de mí, porque, bueno, soy un jugador que, sobre todo, quiero quitar especulaciones que
03:19no era sobre el entrenador.
03:20Era más porque, bueno, soy un jugador que quiere ganar todo siempre. Soy un jugador que pone todo en el
03:27campo al 200% y nunca te gusta cuando pierdes.
03:31Solo fue sobre eso y quitar especulaciones que he visto por ahí, que era sobre el entrenador, sobre la situación
03:40que estamos.
03:40Nunca estamos en esa situación y la realidad es que quiero ganar todo y por eso fue mi reacción, ¿no?
03:50Hi, Igor. This is the first time you've been able to select Christian Romero since you've been here.
03:57First of all, as a former centre-back yourself, what kind of qualities does he bring?
04:01And how determined is he to play his part in turning around this whole situation for Tottenham?
04:08Yeah, he missed a lot. He was also not feeling good to not be in circumstances to help the team.
04:17So now he's back, he was working these two, three weeks a lot, even with the fitness course, he did
04:25a separate running session, so to be in better shape now when he's back.
04:31We are happy. I'm sure that tomorrow he'll be a leader like he's always and that we make together one
04:37good game.
04:40And Pedro, you know him well, Christian. How much is he hurting right now, looking at the way the season
04:48has panned out?
04:49How much does he want to make amends and sort this out for Spurs?
04:55No, Kuti es un jugador muy importante para nosotros, ¿no? Yo creo que también eso dentro del grupo lo sabemos,
05:04¿no? Es un jugador diferencial que, bueno, también cuando sentimos su falta es mucha, ¿no?
05:11Porque tiene tanto que te puede dar que al fin y al cabo, pues, bueno, te hace falta. Pero, bueno,
05:18la verdad que ahora mismo contentos, contentos de tenerle de vuelta, que eso es muy importante para nosotros y, bueno,
05:26nada más.
05:27Hola, aquí Pedro. ¿Qué tal? Buenas tardes, Gonzalo Palafos de Onda Cero. Le preguntábamos esta mañana a Simeone si el
05:35Atlético de Madrid es el favorito, si lo sois vosotros.
05:37Él decía que depende de lo que se mire, ¿no? Que en este caso vosotros en la fase Liga de
05:41la Champions habéis quedado cuartos y que por eso, en teoría, tendríais que ser favoritos.
05:46¿Tú qué piensas? ¿El Tottenham es favorito o es más favorito el Atlético de Madrid? Gracias.
05:51Bueno, como ha dicho él, ¿no? Depende como lo mires. Al fin y al cabo, nosotros hemos quedado cuartos en
05:58la liguilla, pero, bueno, ellos también están haciendo una temporada espectacular.
06:02Nada de especulaciones, simplemente dar lo mejor mañana y esperemos que vaya bien para nosotros.
06:14Hola, Igor. Hola, Igor.
06:18Hola, Igor.
06:18You appointed Spurs head coach to keep the club in the Premier League.
06:23After the recent results, how do you feel about these two games against Atletico?
06:28And for you, how important are they?
06:30Of course, they are important, every game is important. As I said, always after the game we need to be
06:36focused on us, to grow.
06:41So, it can be opportunity, total different mentality aspect can be used in this kind of game, so maybe this
06:53can help us.
06:54You know, seeing how, you know, seeing how, which problems we have, I believe that this kind of games can
07:01help us to switch in the right way.
07:04But always focus on us to grow as a team, to do the things better. And that's the point.
07:12Pedro said it, I think yesterday, so many big names and characters injured, but I looked at training videos today,
07:19there was a lot of passion, you stopping training and talking to the players.
07:23Was it a good session and do you feel you're getting a lot out of these players over the last
07:27few days?
07:27Yeah, I saw that more the time is passing, the sessions are always better, there is more quality in everything,
07:35especially because important players are coming back in the team.
07:40So that's the key, of course. As I said before, lots of old habits sometimes need too much, not too
07:48much, more time than you expected to change.
07:53This is also very interesting. And this is the thing we are speaking, me with the staff every day, you
07:59know, how fast we can make changes.
08:03Sometimes it's not easy. It's need to put effort that usually you are not able to do.
08:12So when I'm speaking about changes, when I speak about boats, you know, I'm speaking about that, because it's not
08:18easy to change the things you are doing for months or for a year.
08:23So something is moving, not something, I think, quite, not just something. So let's see tomorrow. Let's see tomorrow.
08:36Hi, Igor, Alex Ashmore for Sporty TV. Obviously, you said this game is really important for you, but in some
08:42ways it may be a free hit to try and try some things new to work out.
08:46Obviously, for the Premier League, you want to focus on the relegation battle, the fight to stay up. Is it
08:51potentially a chance to try some things that could work at the weekend and going forward in the Premier League?
08:55I agree. I agree. Both things, as I said, focus on us. We are playing as a team who has
09:04a story in this Champions League, so they have experience, they have quality.
09:07We need to do our best in terms that we need to grow, you know, as you said also, because
09:19our first aim is Premier League, and this needs to be said also publicly.
09:26It's a normal thing. This is something extra, but that doesn't mean that we don't want to pass. We don't
09:34want to go in the next round.
09:38And a question for Pedro. How have you been those months as a player? I imagine that it hasn't been
09:45easy.
09:48No, above all, it hasn't been easy for what we've been going through. Obviously, I've been competing throughout the entire
09:56season,
09:56at least in the last three or four weeks since I had a small lesion and I had to be
10:02prepared. But, well, from within me, I can say that I can say that
10:06it's complicated moments, but, well, that's not my mentality, nor to me, nor to any of my colleagues,
10:12to keep competing at 100% and try to do the maximum always. And, well, it's true that the results
10:19have not been as long as we wanted or expected, but, well, it's still not finished. We have to continue
10:26until the end
10:26and try to do it forever.
10:29Hi, Igor. I would like to ask you about his Charlison. Because when you arrived at the club, he was
10:35coming back from injury.
10:37You used him in all three games. He scored against Fulham. How do you see his importance for the team?
10:44And is he ready to start tomorrow?
10:47Yeah, he will start tomorrow.
10:49In which position?
10:52I've already said nothing.
10:54Tenter Batro. Tenter Batro.
10:57Tenter Batro.
10:58Tenter Batro.
10:59Good morning, Pedro. Álvaro Ibrale, here, to your left.
11:04Álvaro Ibrale, for Babel.com.
11:06The situation of the team in the Premier League is radically different from the Champions League.
11:11I want to ask you, what do you think is the main reason for this to happen? Thank you.
11:16Well, no I could say the answer exact.
11:19It is true that, as you have said, in the Premier League we have had that consistency that we were
11:26looking for.
11:26It is true that, in the Champions League, we have competed well.
11:39And in this case, that's why we are here.
11:41We also have to look at the positive side of things.
11:44And when the team has competed well in European competitions, we only need to put that guinda in the Premier
11:51League.
11:51And continue competing to the best.
11:57Hello, Pedro.
11:59We've talked already about the injuries and the injuries have been such a big problem for Tottenham for such a
12:03long time.
12:04It's the lesson that, these days, you need a really big squad to compete in these competitions in the Champions
12:10League and the Premier League as well.
12:11Yeah, of course. I think every people like this.
12:17When you have too many players in the squad, also for the gaffers, it's easy.
12:23But I think in the moment when I speak this, sometimes the translation for the English to Spanish is a
12:29little bit different.
12:30But I think it's not for the right thing or bad thing.
12:34It's because when you have every player fit, it's good for us.
12:39And my other question, there's an idea, I think, that Tottenham have so many good players that maybe with the
12:44relegation battle,
12:45there's less risk because some of these players will just leave and go to other clubs.
12:50I wonder if maybe you can kind of clarify that the players really care about the situation in the Premier
12:55League.
12:58Well, let's see, it's a complicated situation, isn't it?
13:02It's a complicated situation, but the most important thing now that we are here is to focus on the game
13:08tomorrow.
13:09And we'll see you later.
13:11Thanks.
13:13John.
13:16Igor, what do you think of this version of this Atletico Madrid team?
13:21And when you take on Diego Simeone's teams, what specific things do you have to bear in mind?
13:33First of all, mentality of the coach.
13:36We know how he was a player and how he's a coach.
13:38So mentality of the team, experience they have in this competition, quality players.
13:46In every moment they can score the goal and they never run.
13:51So tough opponent to play against, big motivation from our side to do one good game tomorrow.
13:57Tell us a bit more about how you see his mentality.
14:01No, we know how he is staying here.
14:05I don't know how many years in one club.
14:07This means something.
14:11I have big respect for him.
14:14Amazing coach.
14:20Hello.
14:20Question please for Pedro.
14:22Pedro, what do you think of the new boss?
14:26What's life been like under him?
14:28No, no.
14:29Desde que sube la llegada de su existencia, de que iba a venir al club, sabía que iba a ser
14:40un entrenador que nos va a ayudar.
14:43Seguramente, estoy seguro al 100%.
14:44Y bueno, todos los jugadores sabemos que tenemos que ir en el camino correcto con él.
14:49Y bueno, obviamente que también ha llegado hace dos o tres semanas, cuatro como mucho.
14:55Tiene que también saber todo de nosotros y nosotros de él.
14:59Y seguramente que estamos en el camino correcto con él.
15:06Ok, thank you very much.
15:09Gracias.
15:10Gracias, thank you.
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