Manchester United extends their run of trophy-less seasons to 5; suffers 1-0 defeat against Atletico
The trophy-less run for Manchester United continues in the fifth year as they get eliminated from the UCL after suffering a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
It was a turn-of-the-time game, where Ronaldo faced an adversary from his Real Madrid days. The Portuguese striker has a history of spoiling Atletico’s party. Only this time, the Madrid team got an opportunity to return the favor.
Having played a 1-1 draw in the home game, Atletico came into this game hoping for better performance.
United, on the other hand, couldn’t have expected anything. It has been one of those seasons for them, where they haven’t looked settled at all.
They have won games nobody expected them to, and then lost some, where they were hand-down favorites.
The first half started in the same fashion. While United’s attack was looking threatening at one end, the defense on the other was leaking. Because of the mistakes on the back, the attackers couldn’t keep up the pressure.
As a result, Atletico Madrid got the game’s first goal in the 34th minute of the game. It was a great pass by Antoine Griezmann that found Renan Lodi at the far post. And since no one was marking the Brazilian international, he headed it home.
Manchester United made some great attempts at the goal but couldn’t find it. Hence, at the stroke of halftime, the score was 1-0 in Madrid’s favor.
Jan Oblak against the odds at Manchester
The second half saw a tremendous surge in the possession for United. They kept the ball and moved it around very well. In fact, they controlled most of the game with 60% of possession.
But Atletico’s German goalkeeper Jan Oblak stood firm between the posts. He denied United every chance to score. Not once did the German have a frail moment in the game.
He made a total of 5 saves, four high claims, won 1 ground duel and two aerial duals to keep his side ahead.
United had 11 stops on goal, out of which five were on target. But none of them could fetch them the leveler in the game.
The referee’s final whistle came as a stunner for United fans at their home turf. At the same time, the Atletico fans cheered their team, who qualified for the quarterfinals with an aggregate score of 2-1.
With all the prowess that they possess, United will have to wait another year to add another trophy to their cabinet.
