There is something about Manchester United and the Champions League this season. Yet again it produced an indifferent display, and yet again it came away with a positive result. Twice Atlético Madrid hit the bar and for a long time it seemed in control of Wednesday's first leg in the round of 16, but a late equalizer from Anthony Elanga salvaged a draw to take back to Old Trafford for the second leg. Nobody should think all United’s problems are suddenly solved, but 1–1 is a result it would happily have taken before the opening kick.
Atlético had been ahead for only 34 minutes in the Champions League so far this season, but it had more than doubled that figure by halftime. United had two-thirds of the ball, but was outplayed in the first half to the extent that it didn’t even have a touch in the Atlético box. There was no sort of attacking structure or fluency, rarely the sense it could hurt Atlético, while at the other end it felt like any defender could make a mistake at any moment.
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Victor Lindelöf was surprisingly selected at right back, a move that seemed odd with Diogo Dalot, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Eric Bailly, all more natural fullbacks, on the bench. Perhaps the idea was that he could tuck in and function as a third central defender with Luke Shaw pushing forward, offering his bulk to help combat Atlético’s physicality, but United was exposed with crosses from his flank. Both came after set plays, and so neither was his fault in that sense, but both also resulted from a general sluggishness to react.
The first brought the goal, a seventh-minute corner being half-cleared to Renan Lodi, whose whipped ball in was headed powerfully past David de Gea by the plunging João Félix. Just before halftime, it was a Lodi ball that, after taking a crucial nick off Bruno Fernandes, was headed against the bar by Šime Vrsaljko.
But this wasn’t just about the shape of the back four; this was about an out-of-sorts United bullied by a more committed team. Harry Maguire had another poor night, while Raphaël Varane had a five-minute spell in the first half when he couldn’t make a five-yard pass. There have been flickers of form in the league, but the concern is that United has been nothing more than talented players occasionally doing talented things. There remains very little sense of structure.
United has become one of the Premier League’s more leaky dressing rooms. There have been reports that the coaching staff believes only two players are attuned to ball-oriented pressing, while Fred said openly that he thinks Ralf Rangnick’s interim status is counterproductive.
“I know in football it’s important to get good results as soon as possible but it’s also important to have a long-term plan,” he said. “I think it’s a little bit bad for us not to have one. At the moment it’s all about the short-term goals. We don’t know how it’s going to be after the end of this season.”
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Rangnick’s approach is very different to that of his predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and if he is struggling to get buy-in for his revolution it is hardly surprising when players don’t know if he will still be there beyond June. And then there is Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who has never been especially diligent about his defensive responsibilities, who could hardly be less suited to Rangnick’s vision. Despite his sterling history against Atlético in the Champions League, he was, again, peripheral to United’s general play, failing to put a shot on target. His main contribution to beg for yellow cards every time he was fouled and often when he was simply dispossessed.
Ronaldo was, though, involved in the build-up to the equalizer, heading the ball down to Fred, who found Bruno Fernandes who, after an indifferent night, slipped a perfect pass through for Elanga. With Jan Oblak, who has been out of form this season, weirdly drawn to his near post, the 19-year-old slipped the ball past him to pull United level.
That really has been the story for Atlético this season. It has not been the defensive force of previous seasons, and has often let in soft goals through moments of sloppiness. The benefits of the abolition of the away goals rule perhaps came into play during the match as well, with Diego Simeone making attacking substitutions at 1–0 up, looking for a second rather than being content not to concede an away goal.
One of those substitutes, Antoine Griezmann, did hit the bar after another corner, but United held on. Pretty it was not, and convincing it was not, but a 1–1 draw represents an extremely positive outcome for United.
