Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage after a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford.
Backed by a raucous home crowd and with Cristiano Ronaldo in particular looking up for the fight following his hat-trick heroics on the weekend, United started the stronger.
Anthony Elanga popped up to cause Jan Oblak problems from a looping cross and was quickly in the goalkeeper’s face again.
A low cross from the right found the young winger free at the near-post, yet his shot rebounded right off Oblak’s forehead and away from the goal.
Los Colchoneros found their footing yet struggled to create chances for long stretches of the match, until an offside Marcos Llorente teed up Joao Felix for a close-range finish - just as the flag was raised.
Atletico took the lead on 40 minutes when Elanga lost the ball and was not rewarded with a free-kick, which prompted the visitors to race clear and eventually find Renan Lodi free at the far-post to head past David De Gea.
Elanga fired narrowly wide as United once again came out the dressing room with big intent, but little end product before again subsiding and allowing the Spanish champions to take charge of the tie.
Sancho was next to fire off target from a good position before Ralf Rangnick turned to his bench, making a triple change with 20 minutes to go. Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Marcus Rashford replaced Bruno Fernandes, Elanga and Scott McTominay.
Atletico sat deeper and deeper, frustrating the home fans with typical gamesmanship tactics before Oblak came to their rescue again, denying Raphael Varane’s header with a smart reflex save.
And yet these moments were few and far between for United, who rarely demanded heroics out of the Slovenian shot-stopper.
The final minutes drifted by without fanfare, without a Ronaldo masterclass or a Stretford End roar, and United’s Champions League campaign came to a sobering end.
