Atletico Madrid are through to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday in their round of 16 second leg, 1-0. Diego Simeone's side advanced narrowly on aggregate, 2-1, thanks to Brazilian defender Renan Lodi. The fullback scored the winner in the first half with a back-post header where he was inexcusably left unmarked, while Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak made some key saves in goal to keep their European dreams alive. Atletico Madrid became the second Spanish team to advance, joining rival Real Madrid.
United started and ended the game on the front foot, but their finishing was nowhere to be found just days after one of their most encouraging performances in attack. Cristiano Ronaldo had a hat trick on the weekend in the win over Tottenham, but in this one he had only one shot.
Atleti managed to eat up clock at the end of the match with their possession, stunning the home fans that will once again have to wait for continental supremacy. Once again, the dark horses of Spain have booted an English club and look capable of making another deep run.
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Here are three takeaways from the match:
Joao Felix has a ton of pressure on him, viewed a few years back as the next big thing and not showing the consistency needed. But his impact across the two legs cannot be denied. He scored the opener in the first leg, and it was just the awareness here on their winning goal to tuck in to pull the defender and heel it to Antoine Griezmann, who would get the assist. Take a look:
It's not magical, it's not overly cheeky, but it was simple and smart, taking advantage of a Manchester United defense that was, at times, cringe-worthy. It was the right ball to play, and it made all the difference in the end.
Oblak has had the roughest season of his career since arriving at Atletico eight years ago, and part of that has been some struggles from him and not having much chemistry with an often-injured defense. But he's got his guys back healthy, and he looked like the best goalkeeper in the world in this one. It wasn't just the save on Anthony Elanga with his face, which is a bit lucky as well, but the confidence on his crosses, his timing on high balls in the box, and how he dealt with swerving shots.
But his top highlight will be this wild face save:
He needed a performance like that, especially being at fault for United's goal in the first leg with poor positioning. This will boost his confidence, and he may just be back on track now after this one.
If you are surprised that United are out, then you clearly are just looking at these teams from a historical perspective. An above-average Spanish club that has transformed into a European contender over the last decade against arguably the biggest club in the world, reduced to a shell of its former self, this was no shocker. Atleti have been pulling off results like this for a while (ask Liverpool and Chelsea). United may have had three more shots, nearly 20 percent more possession and almost double the xG (0.91 to 0.52), but let's not forget who we are dealing with. This is a team too reliant on Ronaldo, one that within the last month and a half failed to beat Watford, Burnley and Middlesbrough, and one that will need major help in the Premier League just to get back into UCL.
Atletico clearly are the better side, and they showed it in the end.
It's Lodi's goal that lifts Atletico into the last eight, while United crash out! What a match, and once again what a result in England for the Spanish side.
Elimination incoming for United unless there is some mini miracle...
And United have nothing going for them. Darren Fletcher picks up a booking. Alex Telles crashes a free kick into the first man. They look to have lost hope.
You're right Roger, this is proper "throw the kitchen sink at it" territory. Juan Mata is coming on for his fifth appearance this season, replacing Maguire. It looks like Matic will drop into defense as United just look for someone who can summon up something.
It's a curling effort that goes by the left post, but it wasn't much of a threat. Oblak knew it was going wide.
15 minutes to go now ... United need a goal just to force extra time. One more goal for Atleti could mean game over for Ronaldo and company.
A set piece in from the left goes to the back post, and Ronaldo nearly gets on the end of it, but the ball goes out of for a goalkick.
A better move from United there. Dalot gets in behind the visitors, the first player to do so in quite a while, and hangs a really tempting cross to the back post. Sancho is there to meet it but Llorente gets out quickly to ensure he does not have much of an angle to work with. He hits the ball so sweetly but it flies just away from the top corner of Oblak's far side.
You can hear the Old Trafford crowd losing its patience with the increasingly clunky way in which United are going about their task here. They're passing the ball around in search of an idea, not really wearing Atletico down, and one passage of play ends with Fernandes pumping an aimless cross into the box from the right touchline. It's as easy as Oblak could wish. There is simply no pressure on his goal at the moment.
A start to the second half that's very similar to how the first ended with United seeing plenty of the ball but no longer putting the pressure on the Atletico goal. Meanwhile the visitors are taking the fouls that are on offer and doing everything else they can to just turn this into a bit of a grindfest, killing the momentum and frustrating the crowd.
We'd seen moments beforehand where it looked like United's commitment to getting players up the pitch might hurt them and there you see it. They try to press high up the pitch but don't do it with the authority of a team that really know what they're doing. Atletico find it a bit too easy to outmuscle them and suddenly you have Dalot trying to do two things at once, plugging a central gap and covering Lodi at the back post. There's not much Rangnick can do to fix this in the next 15 minutes, it's really something that requires session after session at their Carrington training ground, honing their off ball pressure.
It's Atletco 1, Man. United 0. As it stands, Los Colchoneros are going through.
A powerful strike from outside the box from Bruno Fernandes, and it swerves down to Oblak's left, but he saves it well!
Renan Lodi makes it 1-0! He's headed home at the back post, and Los Colchoneros have taken the surprise lead! Joao Felix's heel finds Griezmann, and his back post ball finds Lodi WIDE OPEN.
Joao Felix finds the back of the net, but Atleti were off in the build up and the goal is ruled out for a clear offside.
They've totally dominated territory here so far (Jadon Sancho has had 16 touches in Atletico's third of the pitch, Atletico have had 20 in United's), are defending comfortably high up the pitch and are moving the ball with zip and energy. This is bizarre, absolutely not what we expect from this team in the biggest games.
Roger Gonzalez: I agree, James. I was just thinking ... this has been an encouraging start for United. Not surprised to see Diego Simeone's side prioritize defending .. but the transition to attack is not there.
This time it's something to watch about how they're defending them (after some very clunky defending by Maguire allowed De Paul to test De Gea). Atleti flick it on at the near post and to a man you can see the United defenders just watching it fly away, not actually moving but instead watching. The flick on, which the visitors are convinced actually from a United head, went just too high for Joao Felix but if it hadn't no one was picking him up.
A great save by De Gea, who pushes out a shot that was going upper corner from range via Rodrigo de Paul! What a couple frantic minutes at Old Trafford, but we are still level!
What a save by the Atleti shotstopper! He denies the Swede with a moment of brilliance to keep it at 0-0! He saved it with his head right in front of goal!
The Red Devils are seeing a bunch of the ball, and they are showing off some flair, but Atleti are defending well in the early moments. No warning signs just yet.
I find this very difficult to compute, only a year ago you could have argued Jan Oblak was the best pure goalkeeper in the world. Then you see him getting outjumped by Anthony Elanga there, seemingly terrified of going for the ball, and all you can think is that he has got the yips. He seems to have no confidence in his technique or his positioning and was very lucky to be given a free kick there. Elanga didn't do a thing wrong.
90 minutes and potentially more! Here it goes!
I mean Roger how can you possibly have a clue what sort of United you're getting. None other than their interim manager Ralf Rangnick said that after the loss to Manchester City he thought this might be the worst team he had ever managed (he has managed teams outside the German top flight). But then they can get the win against a very good, in form Tottenham side. Cristiano Ronaldo can go months without a goal then get a hat trick. This team... I have no idea.
James, how are you feeling about United's chances? I go back to that first leg where United created next to nothing before Elanga's goal, and I feel good about Atleti's chances here. Unless Ronaldo steps up big time, which he has multiple times in the past against Atleti, I think Los Colchoneros enter this second leg as the slight favorite for me. Sure, they haven't been overly convincing ... but I've seen more inconsistency from United this season than Atleti.
One matchup to watch: Jadon Sancho vs. Marcos Llorente. Since the turn of the year, Sancho has found by far the best form of his Manchester United career, largely by playing on a left flank where his team had been reasonably well stocked in the first place. Wherever he starts, the England international is in first name on the team-sheet territory, delivering end product on a consistent basis. Whether it is Llorente at wing back or another option, Diego Simeone will be hard pressed to quell Sancho.
Most likely to score a goal: Cristiano Ronaldo. You can't argue against a track record like this: 36 games, 25 goals (including four hat tricks), nine assists and two Champions League titles snatched away from Atletico. He might have been a non-entity in the first leg, but doesn't that just heighten your conviction he will find a way to play a leading role in this tie?
Man of the Match pick: Renan Lodi. The wing back tore through Manchester United in the first leg and whether he finds himself up against Diogo Dalot or Aaron Wan-Bissaka, he should feel confident about his chances of making a similar impact this time around.
