David de Gea has come to the defence of Antonin Kinsky after the young goalkeeper endured a difficult UEFA Champions League debut during Tottenham Hotspur’s heavy defeat to Atlético Madrid.
Kinsky was substituted just 17 minutes into the match after conceding three goals in the opening stages of the last-16 first-leg clash in Madrid, as Spurs went on to suffer a 5-2 defeat.
The 22-year-old had been handed a surprise start ahead of Guglielmo Vicario but endured a nightmare spell between the posts.
Early mistakes punish Spurs
Kinsky slipped while attempting to play out from the back, allowing Marcos Llorente to open the scoring in the sixth minute.
Antoine Griezmann doubled Atlético’s advantage eight minutes later after another defensive error, before Kinsky’s misplaced pass gifted Julián Álvarez a third goal shortly after.
Head coach Igor Tudor reacted quickly by replacing Kinsky with Vicario, but the damage had already been done. Vicario conceded again just minutes after coming on as Atlético surged to a four-goal lead.
De Gea urges goalkeeper to stay strong
Following the match, De Gea took to X (formerly Twitter) to support the young goalkeeper and emphasised the mental demands of the position.
“No one who hasn’t been a goalkeeper can understand how difficult it is to play in this position,” he wrote. “Keep your head up and you will go again.”
The former Manchester United shot-stopper knows the pressures of elite football, having experienced both highs and lows during his 12-year spell at Old Trafford.
Hart also sympathises with Kinsky
Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart also expressed sympathy for the Spurs keeper while speaking on TNT Sports.
“I’ve been trying to make sense of it, and my overriding feeling is that my heart is absolutely broken for the lad,” Hart said.
“I’m not making excuses for him, he’s had a horrible 14 minutes. The slip and that third goal were everything he didn’t want to happen.”