Atletico Madrid 1-1 Manchester United
A Champions League meeting of two big guns aiming to shake off their domestic wobbles.
Two clubs ranked as 10th and seventh favourites to win the trophy this season, both aiming to keep alive their last chance of silverware this term and seemingly evenly matched.
Instead, what followed was a pretty one-sided contest as Atletico Madrid controlled long spells from start to finish, even without possession.
However, Manchester United are very much in this tie after their often sloppy play, in which they so often lacked conviction, went unpunished by the hosts while, on two occasions, the woodwork saved the Red Devils.
After a match of few Champions League 2022 highlights with only three efforts on target – two of which produced goals – it is very evenly poised ahead of the second leg next month.
Highlights of the game
As starts go, it could have barely been worse for United.
With the full weight of the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium behind them, the visitors were always going to need to weather an early storm, yet just seven minutes in Renan Lodi curled in a fine ball and there was Joao Felix ahead of Harry Maguire to send a thumping diving header in off the post.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick must have despaired and his team seemed initially rattled after falling behind.
How different a United performance this was from just three days earlier when they scored four and showed plenty of character to win in the hostile cauldron that was Elland Road and Leeds United.
In this Spanish cauldron they were unrecognisable and second-best to so much.
Lodi lashed the ball into the side netting and then, on the stroke of half-time, Sime Vrsaljko headed down and onto the crossbar from close range to end a half the hosts had dominated.
The in-form Felix was a livewire, helped no doubt by facing a regular centre-back, Victor Lindelof, at right-back.
At the other end, Atletico’s old foe, Cristiano Ronaldo, was receiving little to no service but then, with the SBOTOP Champions League 2022 betting odds stacked in Atletico’s favour, came United’s moment.
Fred laid the ball onto Bruno Fernandes and the Portuguese slipped through substitute Anthony Elanga, who strode into the box and stroked a cool finish across the otherwise untroubled Jan Oblak into the corner of the net.
“Rhythm is a dancer, Anthony Elanga,” was the catchy new ditty of the away fans who breathed a sigh of relief in the final moments when home sub Antoine Griezmann cut onto his favoured left foot and curled a shot against the frame of the goal.
On saying all of that, the third and final shot of the contest on target saw another substitute, Jesse Lingard, fire in from long range and finally call Oblak into action.
A goal apiece, a point apiece and it’s all to play for at Old Trafford on March 15.
Key statistics
Elanga’s equaliser was United’s 500th goal in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, a tally bettered by only Real Madrid (1001), Bayern Munich (760) and Barcelona (624).
He is also the Red Devils’ youngest ever goalscorer in the knockout stages of the Champions League (19 years & 302 days).
Fernandes has become the first player in Champions League history to assist in six consecutive appearances while playing for an English club, breaking the record held by David Beckham (for Manchester United) since 1998.
The last time these sides met was in the second round of the 1991/92 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup – a tie Atletico won 4-1 on aggregate to knock out the holders.
After losing their first group game in the Champions League this season, United have gone unbeaten in their last six games in the competition (won three, drawn three).
United have only won one of their last eight away trips to Spain in the knockout stages of the Champions League (drawn five, lost two).
Félix has scored seven goals in 19 games for Atletico in the competition – only Diego Costa (seven in five) needed fewer games for the club to reach that figure in the competition (Griezmann – also has notched seven in 19).
What’s next?
Atletico are back in action on Saturday night when they host Celta Vigo in La Liga before travelling to Real Betis the following weekend.
As for United, they host Watford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Manchester derby on March 6.
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