Hello and welcome to The Athletic's coverage of this Champions League round-of-16 second leg between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid.
I think.20 min Yep, genius from Fred. He wriggles away from Savic in the area, an Iniestan piece of escapology near the byline, but then his cutback is blocked by Gimenez.19 min Dalot's shot from the edge of the area is blocked by Reinildo. This is a pretty good game - United are dominating possession but Atletico look dangerous on the counter attack.16 min And now Atletico almost take the lead! We've said it before but the first goal tonight is so important.21 min A long ball was played towards Fernandes in the area, and Reinildo kicked between his legs in an attempt to get the ball. Maguire makes a good challenge on the edge of the area but can only divert the ball to Rodrigo De Paul. He hits a deflected, swirling shot that looks set to sneak into the far corner until De Gea - playing against his old club - claws it round the post. He clipped an excellent deep cross to the unmarked Renan Lodi, whose downward header beat De Gea at the near post.There's a VAR check for a foul on Elanga, but the goal is given!41 min Elanga charges away from Renan Lodi and then Reinildo, who brazenly takes him out. Atletico will have no qualms about keeping their backs to the wall for 120 minutes if necessary.29 min It's two against three in the centre of midfield but McTominay and Fred are winning the battle at the moment. Koke played a one-two in midfield and slid the ball through to the overlapping Llorente, whose cross/pass was volleyed in by Joao Felix. But the flag went up as soon as the ball hit the net, and replays confirmed that Llorente was fractionally offside when Koke put him clear.30 min Gimenez makes a brave headed clearance from a corner, a split-second before being thumped by Harry Maguire's gigantic noggin. United are up against it, again.45+2 min Fernandes's angry long-range shot swirls awkwardly and is pushed away to his left by Oblak. That's a fine save because he had to change direction.44 min Rodrigo De Paul gets a yellow card for a foul on Alex Telles.And now Atletico have taken the lead! Manchester United could be 45 minutes away from a fifth consecutive season without a trophy.Was Elanga fouled before the goal?We've seen a few replays now, and I'm not sure Elanga was fouled by Reinildo in the build-up to the Atletico goal. United are furious because they thought Elanga was fouled, but play continued and less than a minute later Atletico were in front.After some neat one-touch passing in midfield, Joao Felix backheeled the ball to Griezmann on the right. De Gea falls to his left to make a relatively comfortable save.49 min It's been a very aggressive start to the second half from United, powered by the perceived injustice of Renan Lodi's goal.46 min A terrific start to the half from United, who almost equalise within 35 seconds. Their defensive record this season has been unusually poor, but they still get high at the prospect of defending a 1-0 lead by foul means or fouler.52 min De Gea's loose clearance goes straight to De Paul, who chests the ball down and returns it with interest from 25 yards. California law considers some of this activity to be a "sale." California residents can opt out of sales through the “Do Not Sell My Personal Info” button.
A first half goal from Renan Lodi propelled Atletico Madrid into the Champions League quarter finals.
But that is the sort of territory we are in now. Arsenal have the games in hand to streak clear, even after their defeat at the weekend Tottenham's chances of leapfrogging the Gunners are comparable to the Red Devils'. The headline statistic was the first European match without a shot in 3969 days, since a draw with Barcelona in the Camp Nou. Ronaldo did not even get close. Surrounded on the right byline in the 66th minute Bruno Fernandes, seemingly so inhibited by his compatriot in the colors of Manchester United and Portugal, chucked a desperate cross into the box in the hope someone might be there. Renan Lodi struck and with it went United's sense of stability and any belief in the plan that they applied themselves to in relatively impressive fashion. Yes the volume of goals will swell and there may yet be a few more games when he rolls back the years, just as he did against Tottenham on Saturday. He should not be written off as a footballing force in the here and now but it is now painfully obvious that his true greatness lies in the past.
LIVE coverage of the Champions League Last 16 second round tie between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Tottenham saw him score a FIFA record 807th career goal, 25 of which came against Atletico – only against Sevilla has he scored more. LIVE coverage of the Champions League Last 16 second round tie between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford. Photo: Twitter @cristiano LIVE coverage of the Champions League Last 16 second round tie between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford. Photo: Twitter @cristiano
Man United were knocked out by Atletico Madrid in their Champions League round-of-16 second leg at Old Trafford and here are the player ratings. men. Share.
Rightly substituted for the final quarter of the match. Quieter in the second. Brimming with confidence after his performance against Tottenham and he transmitted it to the first-half.
Manchester United could not find a way through a defensively stout Atletico Madrid which found a goal and held strong to clinch passage to the Champions ...
The Brazilian has plenty to work with in front of him, too, with a lot of interchange of positions between Ronaldo, Fernandes and Elanga. The first leg in Spain last month ended all square at 1-1, with a late Anthony Elanga goal cancelling out Joao Felix's opener. Griezmann crosses in from the right and it's finished off easily by Lodi, to send the Atleti fans wild. 2:15pm: In his programme notes, Ralf Rangnick lavished praise on Cristiano Ronaldo for breaking the all-time global goalscoring record: "He has now scored 807 goals and I am certain he will keep adding to that total over the coming weeks and months - hopefully including tonight! 81st min: Geoffrey Kondogbia is on to provide some fresh energy in midfield for the Spanish giants, in place of the silky Koke. Elsewhere, Felix wins a free-kick and stays down, with Matic's temper boiling over. Their last success came in 2016-17, when United lifted the Carabao Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho. 74th min: Just like it did towards the back end of the first half, this encounter is drifting away — and that's exactly how Los Rojiblancos like it. Long-range attempts are blocked, and high, lofted through balls go to the arms of Oblak. Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani are warming up, and will be needed sooner rather than later. It comes to nothing, but gives the increasingly-restless United fans something to get excited about. They created an unbreakable barricade around their own box, with United simply devoid of the invention to find a way through. Renan Lodi was the hero on the night, securing a 1-0 victory here at Old Trafford, and a 2-1 triumph on aggregate. That goal came after a relatively bright start for United, but ultimately the Spanish side eased into the next round.
Renan Lodi's first-half goal secured an aggregate victory for the La Liga side and condemned United to another trophyless season.
“I don’t want to keep having a go at this manager he seems like a really nice man, I love his interviews he comes across as very honest. But anybody else in the world should be available to this club. The managers that you’d probably want are all in jobs so you’ve got to navigate your way through that.” Fernandes wasn’t the only one in a red shirt to grow exasperated as Atletico’s time-wasting antics incurred the wrath of home supporters and players alike. At some point you’ve got to link and get them out of position, get in behind them. United’s widemen looked the most likely to level the scoreline.