LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid withstood a rousing Tottenham Hotspur fightback to reach the Champions League quarter-finals 7-5 on aggregate despite a 3-2 loss in north London on Wednesday.
Diego Simeone's side, who scored four times in the opening 22 minutes in last week's 5-2 first leg home romp, wobbled under a home onslaught but goals by Julian Alvarez and David Hancko ultimately gave them breathing space.
Although they bowed out, Tottenham did so with their pride restored as interim manager Igor Tudor enjoyed his first win in six games since taking charge thanks to a Xavi Simons double.
They will now try and take what Tudor described as "beautiful energy" from their first win in nine games in all competitions into their crunch Premier League relegation battle against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
For Atletico, they can look forward to a meeting with La Liga rivals Barcelona in the quarter-finals.
Tottenham extended their unbeaten home run in Europe to 25 games with a vibrant display that was at odds with what they have produced on their own turf this season domestically.
They exited Europe with a 100% record at home but in the Premier League they have managed just two wins all season.
There was some relief on the faces of the Atletico players and their 3,000 celebrating travelling fans at the final whistle after an uncomfortable night.
"Spurs scored first, and it would have been easy to collapse, but we had the mentality to stay calm, stay in the game and get opportunities," Atletico's London-born winger Ademola Lookman said.
Tudor, who was lambasted eight days ago after taking off goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky after 17 minutes after two horrendous errors, was full of praise for his battling side.
"There was a really nice energy between the squad and the fans, so we want this sensation to continue," the Croat said.
At times as Tottenham steamed forward throughout a riveting contest, it looked as though it could be a night of glory against the club they beat in the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup final to become the first English club to win a major European trophy.
Randal Kolo Muani's textbook header from Mathys Tel's pinpoint cross on the half hour gave Tottenham a halftime lead and hope as the volume in the stadium was cranked up.
Fuelled with belief, Tottenham should have made it 2-0 as Tel was played in after a slick passing move but instead of squaring to an unmarked teammate he fired goalwards and Juan Musso made a vital save, one of many on the night.
When Atletico launched a lethal counter-attack shortly after halftime and Lookman squared for Alvarez to rifle a shot past Guglielmo Vicario, it should have settled them down.
But Tottenham refused to accept their fate and minutes later Archie Gray stole the ball in midfield and fed the impressive Simons who curled a superb right-footed effort past Musso.
Pedro Porro then brought a stunning save from Musso, who was in for first-choice keeper Jan Oblak.
Had that gone in, who knows what would have happened? But when Hancko made it 2-2 with a glancing header to make it 7-4 on aggregate in the 75th minute, Tottenham's energy levels finally began to fade.
There was still a sting in the tail though as Simons netted a penalty after being fouled in the area by Jose Maria Gimenez.
Tottenham piled forward in five minutes of stoppage time but they had left it too late and the damage had been done eight days before after a chaotic first-leg display.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
