Tottenham Hotspur‘s traumatic season can be summed up to perfection by the fact that even when they actually win, it still ends in defeat.
It is also symbolic that a coveted prize of a place in the Champions League after last season’s Europa League success has ended up as a distraction from the grim business of avoiding relegation from the Premier League.
Spurs built on their deserved draw at Liverpool on Sunday to deliver another excellent display in beating Atletico Madrid in their last-16 second-leg tie, but it was not enough to turn around the calamitous 5-2 loss in the Spanish capital.
Amid the disappointment there was that encouragement – and the knowledge Spurs can now put the Champions League aside and concentrate on what truly matters this season.
And that is staying in the top flight so Spurs – and whoever the full-time successor to sacked Thomas Frank will be – can start afresh in the summer as a top-flight club.
This will not be Igor Tudor, but the Croat deserves credit because, from the wreckage of four losses in his first four games, he has shown he can drag improvement from players who looked lost a week ago.
Not that Tudor appeared to take any great public pleasure from the victory – albeit one that saw Spurs knocked out of the Champions League – as he marched brusquely down the tunnel at the final whistle.
“The sensations are mixed,” he said. “You don’t like to not get through, but it was a very good performance. It was a beautiful sensation on the pitch with the fans who were really there together with the squad and the team from the first moment.
“Congratulations to the players. It is positive, commitment, lot of running, lots of good things.
“The energy was really nice from the first moment and the fans recognised the team did everything from the first minute to the last and they were with us – beautiful, thanks.”