Atletico Madrid won 1-0 at Old Trafford to knock Manchester United out of the Champions League. For Cristiano Ronaldo, it was unfamiliar.
To exploit United’s weaknesses, Atletico coach Diego Simeone had already announced in advance that he would have to gear his men to counter-attacking play. The Rojiblancos wanted to do the same at Old Trafford, but were only partially successful at first.
Manchester came in better and had more of the game, the first big chance came after 13 minutes: Elanga failed from a few metres to Oblak, who was somewhat lucky to save with his head. Beyond that, however, the Red Devils were almost only present through long-range shots – this was also how de Paul recorded Atletico’s best chance for a long time (16.).
Atletico sting rarely, but effectively
Because the Rojiblancos defended sturdily in their usual 5-4-1, even a fairly mobile Cristiano Ronaldo could muster little – a plus in possession did not pay off for United. The visitors’ adapted concept proved to be more skilful: precise pinpricks. After one of these, Joao Felix scored from an offside position (34th), but a little later Renan Lodi finished off a Madrid attack with a header (41st).
Even without the away goals rule, Atleti now had the advantage and Simeone’s team started the concrete mixer. Shortly after the restart, Elanga fired in a dangerous low shot (46th), but then the home side began to struggle. They lived on moments: A risky volley by Sancho did not fly far past the cross corner (59th).
Atletico cleverly alternated between binning and relieving, the Colchoneros naturally know something about managing after more than a decade of Simeone – even after several changes by Rangnick. Time was slowly but surely running out for United, for whom, like Atleti, the only thing left to do in the league was to qualify for the next CL season.
“Fearful opponent” CR7 defeated
When they did, Manchester caused a murmur at a jittery Old Trafford following standards. But Cristiano Ronaldo missed several free-kicks (66., 73.), Varane’s header was saved by Oblak (77.). There was hardly anything out of the game, so that the equaliser was never really in the air – and the Rojiblancos were not undeservedly jubilant in the end.
For Simeone and Atletico, it was a rare triumph against “fearful opponent” Cristiano Ronaldo, against whose teams they had lost out in the top flight in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 (both Real Madrid) and 2019 (Juventus).
