Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League as Atletico Madrid triumphed 1-0 at Old Trafford to record a 2-1 aggregate win and advance to the quarter-finals.
Old Trafford demanded a classic European night, but only got a vintage Atletico performance, to produce another dismally routine Champions League exit for the Red Devils.
Their season is good as over after this 1-0 defeat, courtesy of Renan Lodi’s first-half header, bar a needlessly panicked chase for a place in the competition next season.
If they manage that, it will need immense changes for that to be anything other than yet another forgettable exit. This is a shadow of the club it should be, as a night like this proved. There was no grand-stand comeback, no great display from Cristiano Ronaldo. He was a ghost, but one of many. His psychological hold over Atletico is broken, to go with so much in the United team.
Atletico, for all the intensity of their celebration, didn’t really require the same intensity to their display. They had too much nous for United, too much Champions League experience.
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