De Gea, Schmeichel Defend Tottenham Keeper Antonin Kinsky After Champions League Nightmare Against Atletico

Madrid — The goalkeeping fraternity closed ranks around Tottenham’s 22-year-old Czech stopper Antonin Kinsky on Tuesday night after the youngster was withdrawn after only 17 minutes of a traumatic Champions League round-of-16 debut that ended in a 5-2 defeat to Atlético Madrid.

Kinsky, making his first appearance in Europe’s premier club competition, miskicked two attempted passes from inside his own penalty area, gifting Marcos Llorente and Julián Álvarez the opening goals and prompting manager Igor Tudor to replace him with backup keeper Fraser Forster before the clock had reached the quarter-hour mark. Television cameras captured Tudor staring straight ahead as Kinsky trudged down the tunnel, an image that drew immediate criticism from pundits and former keepers alike.

David De Gea, now at Fiorentina, was among the first to offer public support, posting on social media: “No one who hasn’t been a goalkeeper can understand how difficult it is to play in this position. Keep your head up and you will go again.”

Peter Schmeichel, working as a studio analyst for CBS Sports, said he felt “really, really sorry” for the young Czech and questioned both the timing and the manner of the substitution. “That’s going to have ramifications for the rest of his career,” Schmeichel warned. “This will be a moment that everybody in football will always remember every time they see and hear his name. What he’s done there, for me, he’s absolutely killed his career. That’s going to take something to get over that.”

Schmeichel reserved sharper words for Tudor, arguing the manager should have kept Kinsky on until at least the interval. “There was no arm around the shoulder, no eye contact—nothing. You have to protect your players, especially a young goalkeeper in that situation.”

Former Tottenham and England No. 1 Paul Robinson, on duty for BBC Radio 5 Live, labelled the early hook “confidence destroying,” adding, “I’ve never seen that on a football pitch.” Joe Hart, broadcasting for TNT Sports, was equally emotional: “My heart is absolutely broken for him.”

Speaking after the match, Tudor defended his decision, claiming he substituted Kinsky “to preserve the guy” and insisted he had spoken with the goalkeeper in the dressing room. “He understands everything. It’s a big lesson, unfortunately it happened in this big game.”

Whether the lesson comes at too high a cost for Kinsky’s burgeoning career remains to be seen, but the solidarity shown by De Gea, Schmeichel and others underlined the unique pressures—and fraternity—of life between the posts.