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 3-2 in their last-16 second leg, 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."

This was a big upturn in performance and it will be needed again because Spurs now confront a huge game on Sunday when fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, only one point behind in the table and the same tally as third-bottom West Ham.

Spurs have not won in 12 Premier League games, six defeats and six draws, since the victory at Crystal Palace on 28 December.

This is a run that must end now.

In a stadium that has been a toxic environment for so much of this season, it would have been music to the ears of the players to hear the applause and warmth sweeping down from the stands for their efforts.

The attendance of 49,568 meant there were 12,000 empty seats inside the vast arena - but it was actually one of the best atmospheres this season as Spurs fans responded to their side's efforts.

It was well-merited as Tudor's men deserved their second-leg success, even offering up moments when a miracle might have crossed the minds of their long-suffering fans as they led twice before being pegged back both times until Xavi Simons' 90th-minute penalty.

This is not the teak tough Atletico Madrid usually forged by the fierce coaching of Diego Simeone. They give you a chance and Spurs had quite a few of them.

The key moment came just before half-time when they led 1-0. Mathys Tel, who had set up Spurs' opener for Randal Kolo Muani, had a low shot saved by Atletico keeper Juan Musso, while Kolo Muani and Archie Gray were also available for a tap-in had he crossed instead.

A second goal then and who knows?

The bigger picture, however, is suddenly a little brighter for Spurs because, if this level of performance is maintained, those realistic fears of this great club dropping into the Championship could well be eased.

Not only was there quality and attacking threat, there was spirit too.

It would have been easy for Spurs to sink once Julian Alvarez restored Atleti's three-goal advantage in the tie just two minutes into the second half.

Not a bit of it, as Simons swiftly responded with a lovely strike to put Spurs back ahead on the night. The Netherlands forward was impressive and scored the winner from the spot after David Hancko's header made it 2-2 in the 75th minute to snuff out any lingering hopes of an unlikely comeback.

Looking ahead to the defining meeting with Forest, Tudor said: "The players believed and you could see the performance at this moment is very important. In the last two games we have improved.

"It is an important game on Sunday against Nottingham Forest, but it will not decide anything yet. It will be decided over the last three games."

True enough - but at last he and his Spurs players have shown fans, who have been drained of hope this term, they have enough ability and fight to avoid the doomsday predictions that have been made about them in their dramatic decline.