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Manchester United were knocked out by Atletico Madrid with an aggregate score of 2-1. Diego Simeone's men put in an extraordinary defensive shift at Old Trafford. With a moment of magic on the other end of the pitch, they managed to score the only goal of the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo and co. were unable to create enough problems for Jan Oblak throughout the 90 minutes. The Slovenian was the busier of the two goalkeepers but managed to do his job effectively.
A Renan Lodi header from just a few yards out was enough to see off the hosts. Atletico Madrid embraced the atmosphere at Old Trafford and took the lead in typical fashion. An inch-perfect through ball by Rodrigo De Paul to Joao Felix had Manchester United tracking back. The Portuguese set it up perfectly for Antoine Griezmann to cross it into the far post.
Anthony Elanga failed to track down his man while Diogo Dalot was not at all aware of Lodi's presence at the far post. With a composed header into the ground, David De Gea had no chance to save it. It was 1-0 for Atletico against the run of play.
After that, the Spanish side were not threatened much by the opposition. The likes of Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, and Juan Mata were introduced to alter the scoreline. But Simeone's men held their own against Manchester United and secured a place in the last eight of the UEFA Champions League.
On that note, let's take a look at the hits and flops from this Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid clash.
#5 Hit - Marcus Llorente (Atletico Madrid)
The versatile midfielder was yet again called upon to play as a right-wing back for his team. This was due to Sime Vrsaljko was ruled out of the second leg due to a muscular injury. It would be fair to say that Llorente did a perfect job in the position he had to fill.
An in-form Jadon Sancho could not come up with anything special to beat the Spaniard on foot or in the air. While Llorente is known for his technical ability on the ball, he was equally good without it. In this match, he had the challenge of nullifying Sancho, as well as tracking Alex Telles' overlapping runs. Overall, the 27-year-old did what was asked of him immaculately.
#4 Flop - Hector Herrera (Atletico Madrid)
Hector Herrera looked very comfortable dealing with everything that Man United threw at them. Herrera is certainly more defensively able than Geoffrey Kongdombia. But Simone and team should consider themselves lucky not to have conceded through their mistakes.
Herrera often gave the ball away in threatening positions. He was also having an awful outing when it came to passing the ball out of pressure during transitions. The 31-year-old completed just one long ball out of an attempted six, while winning just three ground duels out of seven. On the flip side, he did produce a decent defensive performance in the second half.
The Mexican is a seasoned pro and is a great player on his day. But he lacks the skill set to play as a no. 6 consistently and screen the defense against top opposition. Atletico are clearly yet to replace Thomas Partey. The press resistance, composure, and vision he offered in the middle of the pitch was second to none.
#3 Hit - Frederico Rodrigues (Fred) (Manchester United)
What an absolute turnaround for Fred in Manchester United colors! From being a wantaway midfielder to cementing his place as one of the most important players in the squad. Fred has come a long way since his move to Manchester back in 2018.
From flair to efficiency, Fred has been putting up five-star performances on a regular basis for the Red Devils. He is arguably the most improved player under Ralf Ragnick. The former Shakhtar midfielder continues to impress the fans.
While the Brazilian could not massively impact the game, he was a problem for Koke and Herrera for the majority of the game. Fred has been Ragnick's go-to midfielder as he now looks close to being undroppable. Alongside either Nemanja Matic or Paul Pogba, the Brazilian will play a key role in the race for the top four.
#2 Flop - Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
After missing the Spurs game due to COVID-19, fans expected Bruno Fernandes to put up a world class performance on the big stage. But the Portuguese was an underwhelming figure, yet again.
Fernandes has not been able to emulate his form from the last season under Rangnick this time. The 27-year-old is becoming infamous for his careless passing and lack of ball retention.
It was a similar story against Atletico Madrid. Fernandes was unable to find any space between Atletico's midfield and defense. When he did find someone, the Portuguese resorted to his usual long balls into the box aimed at no one. Otherwise, he went for long range attempts from 30 yards out.
The Manchester United fans are clearly starting to lose patience with his style of play as Fernandes continues to not make amends and improvise. On top of this, The Sun has reported that he is holding out certain demands before signing his new contract. We will have to wait and see how long this saga lasts.
#1 Hit - Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)
The Frenchman, yet again, showcased his qualities on the grand stage and let the world know why he still has it. After achieving his dream move to Barcelona in 2019, things did not work out in favor of Griezmann. He then decided to return to Atletico to revive his career.
Fast forward to 2022, and Griezmann has played a huge role in helping Atletico secure a spot in the final eight of the UCL. He helped his team with a lovely assist for Lodi, which eventually was the match-winning goal.
While his quality on the ball is undoubtedly brilliant, Griezmann put in an absolute defensive shift to help out Llorente and Savic on the right hand side. The 30-year-old was pretty much playing as the right midfielder throughout the game. Yet, he was often found combining with Felix and making deep runs into United's half.
It was a fixture where he displayed his off-the-ball workrate as well as his quality with the ball. Alex Telles and Harry Maguire were simply not on the same level as Griezmann. They had no clue of the runs he was making or the passes he completed.
