With a classic Champions League number, Atletico Madrid put a stop to their slim chances of winning again this year. United has a lot of limitations, so a last-16 exit is about as normal as it gets for them because of their low standing.
Hence TV screens at Old Trafford were instead showing images of Ajax coach Erik ten Hag. Simeone and Atletico Madrid keep going into the last eight again, while Manchester United looks at a future that is full of uncertainty. It seems like a lot of people don’t trust Maguire with the ball, and it often looks like he doesn’t trust himself either.
That future is already here, and it starts now. It’s time for Manchester United’s top people to get this right after getting so many things wrong before now. In both the US and Europe, everyone can see the United’s place in the order of things.
Therefore, Manchester United lost to Atletico Madrid in the Champion League match here at Old Trafford.
United’s main hope, as it has been for some time, is to cross fingers and hope for a moment of individual brilliance. Cristiano Ronaldo provided it with a hat-trick to beat Tottenham on Saturday. There was no such impact here and out went United, running short of ideas and invention long before the inevitable conclusion.
United’s place in the domestic and European order is clear for everyone to see. They are also-rans at home and abroad.
Ronaldo started in a blaze of tricks but fizzled out. Bruno Fernandes threatened to influence but, as usual, descended into spending too much time bickering with officials – all while Atletico set the familiar traps plucked straight from the Simeone playbook.
And in Harry Maguire, Manchester United has a captain playing with an air of desperation. His dawdling, panicky play in possession resulted in frequent groans around Old Trafford. His removal to applause – as he was replaced by veteran Juan Mata late on – was a signal both of his struggles and of Rangnick’s own desperate straits.
Manchester United’s fans, plenty of them anyway, do not trust Maguire on the ball and it often seems as if he does not trust himself either, his confidence clearly fragile
Published By: Ankit Singh
Edited By: Khushi Thakur
