Rangnick speaks!
Jonathan Liew on a dismal defeat for Manchester United
Rangnick says he was satisfied with United’s first half but “we could and should have scored”. He says conceding on the counter gave Atletico a lead to defend, which they are experts at doing. And he laments “some curious refereeing decisions” in the second half along with Atletico’s time-wasting and says that “for there to be only four minutes extra time was a joke”.
Read Sid Lowe's interview with Anthony Martial
Read David Hytner's match report
De Gea's reaction
“We are really disappointed with the result., It’s difficult to describe in words how we feel. They are a team with a lot of experience, they know how to play those type of games ... so it was difficult for us to create many chances. As soon as they scored the goal, they put the whole team behind ... it’s very difficult score against them. WE tried until the end but it wasn’t enough ..... We have to keep fighting but this is a tough moment, I feel sad.”
Atletico’s players gather by the end of the the pitch in front of their fans, chanting and dancing. United’s players have long since trudged down the tunnel. They didn’t perform terribly today but they did show their limitations and their lack of a plan. Atletico won’t go much farther in this tournament.
Updated
Full-time: Manchester United 0-1 Atletico Madrid (agg: 1-2)
United are out of the Champions League. Who knows when we will see them in it again? They simply weren’t good enough today, a ragged, low-energy bunch beaten by a cannier team. When the final whistle sounded, Diego Simeone ran for the tunnel, dodging various missiles from home fans.
90+5 min: Oblak catches the inswinging corner.
90+4 min: Cornet to United ... surely their last chance? De Gea comes forward for it ...
90+3 min: Atletico substitution: Correa on, Griezmann off.
90+2 min: Good tackle in midfield by Pogba, who then sends Mata clear. He’s brought down - no yellow card for Atletico, funnily enough, but a freekick to United. Telles’ delivery is cleared by the first man.
90 min: United will be in Europe for at least four more minutes...
89 min: This is how things are going for United: a yellow card has just been shown to ... Darren Fletcher, apparently for protesting about the award of a freekick. United have given away a lot of them in the last few minutes, and each time Atletico players milk it.
88 min: United aren’t sharp enough in any sense. There’s a lot of fluster and bluster about them but they’re slow and not really hurting Atletico, who only have to keep them at bay and wait for United to misplace a pass.
87 min: After more blunt United possession, Rashford gives the ball away, allowing Atletico to counter. Dalot stops them with a foul, earning a yellow card.
85 min: It’s attack v defence, and the defence is well on top: United just can’t work an opening.
84 min United substitution: Mata on, Maguire off.
83 min: Sancho wins a corner off Savic down the left. Telles takes. Joao Felix heads away at the near post. Dalot gathers it and goes for a blast from 25 yards. Wide.
82 min: Varane fouls Joao Felix. Then Matic throws the ball gently at the forward as he’s lying on the ground. Cue pantomime outrage from the Atletico players, and a yellow card for Matic.
80 min: Atletico try to deflate United with some possession play. Then they frustrate them by taking their time over the first substitution, Kondogbia eventually replacing Koke.
78 min: Another freekick to United in a useful crossing position, this time for a foul on Rashford. Telles flights it in from the left. Varane rises to meet it with a glancing header near the penalty spot. Oblak makes an excellent one-handed save!
Updated
76 min: United substitution: Cavani on, Fred off.
74 min: Varane sprays a fine ball wide to Telles on the left. Telles digs out a dangerous cross, looking for Ronaldo coming in at the back post. but Gimenez, yet again, is well placed to head clear.
73 min: Herrera escapes a booking after a late tackle on Varane. Freekick to United mid-way inside the Atletico half. Telles curls one towards Ronaldo. But Oblak surges off his line and gets there first.
72 min: United are quite ragged and low on energy. Atletico are no geniuses but they seem far savvier now.
71 min: Joao Felix spots De Gea off his line and tries to lob him from 40 yards. At least, I assume that’s what he was trying to do. What he actually did was drag a low shot 25 yards wide.
69 min: Rashford’s first involvement sees him lose the ball and then bring down his man. Freekick to Atletico on half-way.
United triple substitution: Rashford, Pogba and Matic on for Elanga, McTominay and Fernandes.
66 min: Llorente fouls Fred, giving United a freekick just to the left of the Atletico box. There’s all kinds of pushing and shoving in the box as the players await Fernandes’s delivery. He then whips it across the face of goal ... agonisingly too high for Ronaldo and Maguire!
Updated
64 min: United need Pogba’s creativity. He’s warming up.
62 min: More side-to-=side passing by United, all a bit slow. Telles tries to inject some zip, cutting infield and looking for Ronaldo. But Savic reads his intentions, intercepts the pass and instigates a counter. Joao Felix almost gets on the end of a low cross from the left but it’s poked behind for a corner. And from the setpiece Gimenez powers a header just over the bar. That could have been curtains for United.
60 min: A long spell of possession for United, all in the Atletico half. They go from side to side and back again before eventually working Dalot in down the right. Dalot clips over a nice cross. Sancho meets it on the volley 10 yards out, stretching and under pressure. He blasts wide of the far post. That would have been a fantastic goal.
Updated
58 min: Fernandes launches a hopeful cross into the area from the right wing. Easy pickings for Oblak.
57 min: It’s not happening for United. They can’t make any real inroads into the Atletico defence, and the visitors look brighter when in possession.
54 min: Sancho, on the left wing, pops the ball inside to Fred. The Brazilian is so high on confidence today that he tries a shot from 25 yard. He pulls it well wide of the far post.
53 mins: Joao Felix pesters Maguire in the United box. Maguire goes one way, then tries going the other way, then passes back to De Gea, who makes a hasty and inaccurate clearance ... but saves the return shot from 25 yards. De Gea then bawls at Maguire to quit messing around at the back.
51 min: United are getting frustrated. Atletico are knocking the ball cleverly, drawing fouls.
49 min: Fernandes gets told off for relentless whingeing. If Luis Suarez comes on, it’ll be interesting to see how that pair get along ...
48 min: Fernandes misplaces a pass in midfield and then berates the ref rather than chases back. Atletico take the opportunity to stroke the ball about, trying to puncture United’s mojo.
47 min: Dalot pings a pass from the haflway lin eto Fernandes at the edge of the box. The Portuguese flicks it back beautifully into the path of Elanga, who fires just wide from the corner of the box. Bright start to the second half by United, who almost equalised before Atletico have even had a touch.
Updated
46 min: No personnel changes yet: how long before Rangnick casts on Pogba, Rashford and Cavani?
Half-time: United 0-1 Atletico (Agg: 1-2)
United are in trouble. They were on top for most of the first half and missed a couple of good chances before being felled by a cutting counter-attack. Atletico have them where they want them.
45+2 min: Fernandes has a swipe from miles out! It’s got a vicious swerve on it and Oblak has to adjust his feet quickly to change directions it and claw it away!
45+1 min: Reinidlo whacks the ball from the edge of his own box all the way down the other end. Atletico just want to get to half-time with their lead intact.
45 min: There will be at least two added minutes in this half.
43 min: It’s all getting a little angsty for United.
United 0-1 Atletico (agg: 1-2)
40 min: The goal was reviewed by Var to see whether Elanga was fouled in the build-up. But the officials rule the forward went down too easily. From that Atletico tore forward, Atletico played a cute reverse pass to the overlapping Griezmann, who crossed for Lodi to send a downward header into the net, with Dalot seemingly unaware of his presence.
Updated
GOAL! United 0-1 Atletico (Lodi 40)
Atletico have the lead! Lodi nods in at the back post!
Updated
34 min: Atletico carve United open with tbe best move of the match. Llorente squares for Joao Felix to tap into the net from close range ... but just as Atletico begin cebelrating, the ref tells them Lorente was offside.
32 min:A slip by Telles gives Griezmann a chance to get an attack going. Atletico work it wide to Lodi on the left. And his looping cross drifts harmlessly into De Gea’s hands.
30 min: Savic turns a cross by Fernandes out for a corner. Telles delivers an outswinger. Gimenez heads clear and gets butted by Maguire for his troubles.
27 min: Fred has been brilliant so far. He rolls his man in midfield with another foxy piece of skill and zips the ball into Ronaldo, who’s taken out. Freekick to United 35 yards out. They take it short to Dalot, who lofts it towards the back post. But Maguire pushes over a defender to concede a freekick.
25 min: The crowd’s early buoyancy has been replaced by a nervous tension. Dalot tries to break by blasting one into the net net from over 20 yards. It’s a convenient save for Oblak.
23 min:United are well on top without excelling. It’s not clear whether Atletico are purposefully playing a containment game and just aren’t good enough to do anything else.
Updated
21 min: United want a penalty! Fernandes jumped to meet a lofted pass into the area and goes down under a challenge from Reinildo. Replays suggest the defender puts his leg between both of Fernandes and poked the ball out. After deliberating, the officials conclude there was no foul.
20 min: Fred makes a cute dash into the box to invite a pass from Sancho, who slips it through. Fred then performs a phenomenal piece of piece of trickery to beat the defender ... but he then runs out of space. Pity, it was beautiful skill!
19 min: Lodi gets his feet in a muddle as he tries to race past Dalot, who steps in to take the ball and start another United attack. He eventually ends up trying to finish it, too, but Reinidlo blocks his first effort from the edge of the area, and Dalot tonks the next one wide.
16 min: A fine tackle by Maguire on Griezmann near the edge of the UNited area, but the ball breaks to De Paul, who unloads a super, swirling shot towars the top corner from 25 yards. De Gea keeps his eye on it and palms it over the bar with one hand.
13 min: United attack down the right, through Dalot, Ronaldo and then Fernandez, who scampers to the byline and pings in a low ball. Elanga surges past a defender to get to it first at the near post ... but Oblak keeps it out with his head! Put that down to uncanny positioning or just pure fluke! United should be in front.
Updated
12 min:Atletico enjoy a bit of possession, accompanied by boos from the home fans. The visitors patiently knock it about and eventually get behind United down the right, but the pull-back intended for Griezmann is misguided.
9 min: United have had most of the ball so far but Atletico look fairly comfortable and are quick to look for counter-attacking opportunities.
Updated
7 min: Ronaldo, who has spent most of his team so far out by the left wing, wins the first corner of the game following good work by Fred. But the corner yields nothing.
5 min: Savvy defending by Varane as he intercepts a pass by Felix to curtail an Atletico counter-attack.
3 min: Dalot flaots a dainty curling cross into the area. Elanga leaps high - above Oblak! - but can’t keep his header down.It wouldn’t have counted anyway, as the referee says Elnaga fouled Oblak, which is merely another example of keeper’s being wildly overprotected.
Updated
2 min: Ronaldo’s first involvement is spectacular: he controls a fizzed pass from McTominay and then does a salvo of keepie-uppies while under pressure from an opponent, then he lays it back to a teammate. The move peters out but Ronaldo’s in the mood.
Updated
1 min: United v Atletico is go! The visitors kick off ... but it’s a false start, so they have to do it again.
Updated
“For all its many problems, football is the greatest game: I love it!” booms Brian Kitt, and so say all of us.
The teams walk out to a mighty roar. Other than a red and white ring around their shirt necks, Atleitco are clad in sky blue, presumably to endear themselves even further to the locals.
Speaking of Old Trafford, the atmosphere as kickoff approaches is positively giddy: there are songs, cheers and a palpable vibe of something about to happen. It’s on!
“I find the narrative around Old Trafford as an out of date stadium a little strange,” carps Daire McCafferty. “English football is lucky to have so many historic grounds filled with character and memories for many. United are rightly slated for their haphazard transfer policy and complete lack of any forward planning but the fact they’ve been playing football in Old Trafford for the last 112 years is something they shouldn’t be encouraged to throw away for a soulless NFL style car park with a pitch attached.” The demand isn’t for them to move somewhere new, it’s to repair or revamp Old Trafford.
Rangnick's pre-match thoughts
“We are fully aware that we need both the team and the fans on top form tonight. We know we have to be on a high energetic level right from the start.” Regarding the decision to start McTominay, he reiterates the need for “a very high level of aggression and energy.”
Some quibbling from Simon Jones. “Regarding this comment of yours - “But the abolition of the away goals rule means the 1-1 draw in Madrid doesn’t mean much. Any win will do for Atletico and they are capable of winning in England - this would have been the case even when away goals DID matter, would it not? If the first leg is 1:1, it would always be the case that any win would be sufficient for away side in the second leg. In this case Atletico.” Indeed, but the point is that even a win in extra-time or on penalties after a 0-0 would do: they don’t have to score (except from the spot) to win. Mind you, their lineup looks like they’ve come to score, and why not, given United’s defensive wobbles.
Updated
“United feel like a club on life-support these days,” sniffs Justin Kavanagh. “Their stadium is out of date, their talisman is well into the winter of his career, and even their manager arrived with an expiry date. If anyone in football were to be cast as the villain to pull the plug on this particular patient, it would Diego Simeone. An intriguing hospital drama awaits us.”
Teams
No rest for Ronaldo: he spearheads the attack following his barnstorming hat-trick against Spurs on Saturday. Pogba is dropped so that McTominay can return to midfield.
United: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Telles; McTominay, Fred; Sancho, Fernandes, Elanga; Ronaldo
Subs: Heaton, Henderson, Bailly, Jones, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka, Lingard, Mata, Matic, Pogba, Cavani, Rashford
Atletico: Oblak; Llorente, Gimenez, Savic, Reinildo, Renan Lodi; Koke, Herrera, De Paul; Greizmann, Joao Felix
Subs: Lecomte, Christian, Felipe, Hermoso, Gonzalez, Ibra, Kondogbia, Serrano, Moreno, Carlos, Suarez, Correa
Referee: S Vincic (Slovenia)
Updated
Preamble
Time was you could say United have already done the hardest part in this Last 16 tie. But the abolition of the away goals rule means the 1-1 draw in Madrid doesn’t mean much. Any win will do for Atletico and they are capable of winning in England, as they showed when pulling off an improbable victory at Anfield in 2020. Granted, Atletico are not as strong now as they were then, as was proven when they returned to Anfield in this season’s group stages (though they did win in Porto and Milan), but then again, United are no Liverpool. Does anyone know who United actually are?
They’re a confusing team these days, capable both of bursts of brilliance and bouts of ineptitude. They’ve struggled in all their home European games so far this season without actually losing. Given that winning the Champions League is the only way they can land a trophy this season – and probably the only way they can get back into the competition for next season - the pressure is very much on United today. How will this strange bunch respond? That’s what we’re here to find out. It’s all on!
