‘I’ll settle for five”. That’s what sir Alex Ferguson jokingly said before the Atletico – Manchester United first leg of the Champions League knockout stage. United’s most successful coach was hoping for a victory of any kind, but in the end, he is surely happy with a draw in Madrid, especially after his former team did nothing, and yet scored a very important goal: Atletico Madrid – Manchester United 1-1. Rashford seeing Elanga score after been substituted #ATMMUN pic.twitter.com/8XXJ1DRDy6— Nwa mbada (@omegammirioma) February 23, 2022 Ralf Ranginck is and was criticized for his tactics since he took over Manchester United, but the German tactician again did what he always does everywhere he goes: he found a young player and gave him a chance. And this young player repaid after only five minutes with a very important goal, which could seal Atletico’s faith. Ronaldo, Sancho and Rashford couldn’t score but Anthony Elanga could. The youngster had a bit of luck as well, as Mandava slipped in the crucial moment and allowed the Swede to beat Jan Oblak. Until that point, it looked like Manchester would never score, since Diego Simeone secured it’s penalty are perfectly. It was yet another game in which Manchester played poorly and yet another game in which, for whatever reason, the Red Devils were looked by Lady Luck. One slip from the home team defender was all they needed to avoid defeat. Other teams run out of luck, Manchester simply doesn’t. 0 – Manchester United have failed to make a single touch in the opposition box in the first half of a Champions League game for the first time since at least 2005/06. Vigilance. pic.twitter.com/KF8CARcVaW— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 23, 2022 Zero touches in the Atletico’s penalty area. Zero shots on target. That’s what Manchester did in the first half. Nothing. The Red Devils had most of the possession (over 65%) but they couldn’t convert it into anything meaningful. In fact, they conceded a goal after only 7 minutes from a set piece, and again, defending was dodgy. Renan Lodi’s perfect cross from the left was picked up by Joao Felix, who scored only sixth goal of the season, but it was a great one. Fred slipped and Felix ran in between the two centre-backs to score. After the score, the game basically ‘died’ until the injury time. Manchester controlled the ball but couldn’t do anything against great Atletico’s defense. Rangnick even ordered Sancho and Rashford to swap sides, but nothing happened. Second great chance for the hosts came in injury time, and again it was Lodi with a cross, and Vrsaljko’s header hit Lindelof in the face and then cannoned against the bar. The same boring match continued in the second half as well. Both teams were aggressive and tried, but just couldn’t break the opponent. Rangnick decided to make three changes, as Nemanja Matic, Alex Telles and Aaron Wan-Bissaka replaced Lindelof, Shaw and Pogba, but it was his fourth substitute in the 75th minute which eventually worked. Anthony Elanga came in for Rashford, and after five minutes, picked up a great pass into the open space from Fernandes, and scored from United’s only shot on target. Substitute Griezmann had a fantastic chance in the 87th minute, but the ball struck the bar. Atletico were so close to winning this one, but in the end, they will go to Manchester for the second leg knowing that the hosts will have to attack in order to advance. The other match of the Champions League knockout stage was totally opposite to the one in Madrid. The duel between Benfica and Ajax was dynamic, exciting, explosive, with high tempo, four goals, 28 shots and plenty of chances on both sides. A pure joy for any football fan. Former West Ham striker Sebastian Haller showed his striking skills on both sides of the field. The Frenchman scored an own goal in the 26th minute, before reacting instinctively and scoring for the complete turnaround for the guests in the 29th minute, since Ajax captain Tadić scored another goal in the meantime. But the hosts were attacking all the time, didn’t want to surrender and it worked in the 72nd minute, when Yaremchuk scored the leveler. UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE1/8 finalsTuesdayChelsea – Lille 2-0 (1-0)/Havertz 8 – Pulisic 63/Villareal – Juventus 1-1 (0-1)/Parejo 66 – Vlahovic 1/WednesdayBenfica – Ajax 2-2 (1-2)/Haller 26 og, Yaremchuk 72 – Tadic 18, Haller 29/Atletico Madrid – Manchester United 1-1 (1-0)/Joao Felix 7 – Elanga 80/
