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Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid LIVE: Champions League result, final score, reaction as United crash out

Manchester United 0-1 Atletico Madrid (agg 1-2): Relive the reaction from Old Trafford as Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League

Michael Jones
Tuesday 15 March 2022 18:48 EDT
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Manchester United are trying to reach the Champions League quarter-finals
Manchester United are trying to reach the Champions League quarter-finals (PA)

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.

Follow reaction as Manchester United take on Atletico Madrid:

Ralf Rangnick feels Jadon Sancho is approaching his best form for Man United

Ralf Rangnick says Manchester United are starting to see Jadon Sancho’s true talent now that the summer signing has adjusted to the rigours of Premier League football and rebuilt his confidence.

After a protracted pursuit of the England international, the Old Trafford giants finally got their man after agreeing a £73million deal with Borussia Dortmund.

Sancho looked a shell of the player that lit up the Bundesliga during the first part of this season, only for Rangnick’s arrival to gradually bring about an uptick in performances and self-belief.

The 21-year-old forward produced another impressive performance as United beat Tottenham 3-2 on Saturday evening and Rangnick is excited by his progress.

“They paid quite a few pounds for him in order to lure him away from Borussia Dortmund and if you pay that amount of money in a transfer fee for a player he should perform on this kind of level,” Rangnick said.

Ralf Rangnick feels Jadon Sancho is approaching his best form for Man United

Sancho looked a shell of the player that lit up the Bundesliga during the first part of this season

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:46

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid

Just under 20 minutes to go until kick off. The warm-ups are underway.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:43

Diego Simeone expects ‘dynamic game’ when Atletico Madrid visit Man Utd

Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone expects Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Manchester United to be a “classic type of match you expect in a game like this”.

The Red Devils escaped with a 1-1 draw when the sides met in the round of 16 first leg, with teenager Anthony Elanga saving the visitors on a night when Los Colchoneros dominated for the most part.

The abolition of away goals means that there is nothing splitting these sides heading into a return fixture that Atleti boss Simeone believes will be a blood and thunder encounter at Old Trafford.

“The characteristics of the footballers that Manchester United have and our players and the way we both play I imagine it will be a dynamic game, a game where there will be alternative moments,” the former Argentina international said.

“We’ll press high. It will be the classic type of match you expect in a game like this, the vertigo you suffer sometimes when a team plays at home.”

Diego Simeone expects ‘dynamic game’ when Atletico Madrid visit Man Utd

The Red Devils escaped with a 1-1 draw when the sides met in the round of 16 first leg

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:39

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid

Manchester United have won 12 of the 17 Uefa competition ties in which they recorded a first-leg away draw, including the most recent, against Club Brugge in the 2019/20 Europa League round of 32.

That was one of seven instances in which United drew 1-1 away in the first game with aggregate wins in six of those ties, the only elimination coming at the hands of Atleti’s city rivals Real Madrid in the 2012/13 Champions League round of 16, when they lost the return 1-2 at Old Trafford.

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:36

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid

João Félix has opened the scoring in four of Atletico’s last five fixtures, including the first leg of this tie.

(AFP via Getty Images)
Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:33

Beat Atletico Madrid and Ralf Rangnick will have a choice to make

After the thrill of Cristiano Ronaldo’s spectacular hat-trick and the late win over Tottenham Hotspur, it took a while for everyone inside Old Trafford to settle down. Ralf Rangnick summed up the mood around the place well during his post-match press conference by contrasting it to the fallout from the Manchester derby.

Rangnick was asked whether, with Ronaldo in that type of form, Manchester United fans could dream of winning the Champions League.

“This is what I like about this club,” the interim manager said. “On Sunday, I almost felt like we were at a funeral, that it was already dead, like it’s the worst team I ever coached. Now after a 3-2 win against Tottenham we’re discussing our chances to win the Champions League.”

Beat Atletico Madrid and Ralf Rangnick will have a choice to make at Man United

If the Red Devils reach the Champions League quarter-finals, gunning for European glory could take precedence over a tough top-four push

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:27

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid’s Marcos Llorente says that his team are wary of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ability and his teammates will be on guard against the star tonight.

When you have players like that, you always need to be on your guard. They have some other great players that play at a really high level and we have to be aware of all of them.”

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:24

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid

Born in Madrid, David de Gea came through the ranks at Atlético, whom he joined in 2003 aged 13.

He made his first-team debut as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 Matchday 2 defeat at Porto in the 2009/10 Champions League and went on to play 84 games for the club in all competitions, including eight in Atleti’s victorious Europa League campaign in 2009/10.

De Gea also played in a Copa del Rey final defeat by Sevilla the same season and in the 2-0 win against Inter in the UEFA Super Cup in August 2010, joining United the following summer

(Getty Images)
Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:20

Cristiano Ronaldo sparks Atletico Madrid self-doubt as Manchester United superstar eyes Paris redemption

Cristiano Ronaldo is not one for self doubt, but even he felt some relief on Saturday evening.

After a difficult few months at Manchester United, where the logic of the transfer was again questioned, the Portuguese was finally doing what he was signed for.

Ronaldo was once more the goalscorer, once more the hero. Another defeated team felt that familiar deflation, from one of his thunderous headers.

It is a feeling Atletico Madrid know too well. It is an image Atletico Madrid know too well.

Cristiano Ronaldo sparks Atletico self-doubt as Man United star eyes redemption

The Portuguese strikes fear into most Atletico Madrid fans after tormenting them across five successive seasons (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019) in the knock-out stages of football’s most prestigious club tournament

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:17

Man Utd vs Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone, says that his players are ‘really up for the game’ tonight as the visitors attempt to knock Manchester United out of the Champions League. He said:

We know every game is completely different, we’ve done well in these previous games like this in this country,

"We know the potential and how important the opponent we’re facing, and I’m sure that we’ll do the best we can in the game.

"I think we’ll do what the team requires, we’ll work on our attacking threat from the front, that’s where our initial defensive block starts. When we have to track back, we will do.

"We’re really up for the game. We’re happy, and that’s really important on an individual level to do well on a collective level."

Michael Jones15 March 2022 19:14

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