Diego Godin hit the winner as Tottenham's pre-season tour of Australia ended with a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in Melbourne.
Having been overrun against Serie A champions Juventus in their first International Champions Cup tie, Spurs put in an improved performance at the MCG on Friday, with Josh Onomah and Erik Lamela hitting the woodwork in the first half.
But their inability to convert their chances came back to haunt them as Uruguay international Godin struck five minutes before the interval as Diego Simeone got the better of former Argentina team-mate Mauricio Pochettino.
Spurs fly back to Europe now where a trip to Oslo to face Inter Milan awaits before attention turns to their Premier League opener away at Everton on August 13.
After Fernando Torres had flashed a near-post header over the bar, Spurs captain Christian Eriksen almost opened the scoring with a long-range effort on eight minutes, but Jan Oblak unconvincingly deflected his dipping shot over the bar.
Spurs were inches away from taking the lead on 10 minutes when a scramble in the area presented Onomah with the ball, but he sent a volley crashing against the bar.
And Lamela followed suit shortly after, racing through on goal but crashing a low, near-post effort against the frame of Oblak's goal.
Atletico gradually grew into the game, utilising their superiority at set pieces. And they took the lead on 40 minutes when Gabi's free-kick was flicked onto Godin by a Spurs player and he poked past Michel Vorm.
Pochettino handed first-team regulars Ryan Mason, Heung-Min Son and Tom Carroll the chance of some game-time at the break, and Spurs started the half promisingly.
Having shaken off his early nerves, Oblak produced an exquisite save to deny Mason on 59 minutes before tipping Vincent Janssen's free-kick around the post a minute later.
As they had in the first, Atletico took their time to settle in the second half but once they did the victory looked assured - and it could have been more comfortable had substitute Amath Diedhiou not curled fractionally wide in the closing stages.