Everything Anthony Elanga touches turns to goals. After applying the finishing touch to a weekend win over Leeds United and gaining quick karmic vindication for being struck by a coin, Elanga sprinted onto the pitch needing to save Manchester United’s skin. Five minutes later, he had the most important goal of his brief career. “Rhythm is a dancer,” sang an away end that had had precious little else to cheer.
For all the joy to be sourced from your team trampling all over an opponent, the best away results are the ones that feel stolen from under from the noses of your hosts.
At Madrid airport on Thursday, an army of the bleary-eyed and red-shirted will collect in groups to discuss how fortunate their team was the night before and how little they care. Manchester United have surely not played worse under Ralf Rangnick than they did in the first 60 minutes in Madrid. Bizarrely, they have had few better results than a first-leg draw that puts them in the driving seat for a quarter-final place.
When asked for his thoughts on Atletico Madrid’s upcoming opponents in his pre-match press conference, Diego Simeone described Manchester United as “an intense and dynamic team” who are “one of the best teams in the world”. If nothing else, it proves that someone other than Atleti’s manager does the opposition scouting. Or perhaps Simeone put a 2008-09 DVD in by mistake.
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It was a tough watch. They aimed to be defensively solid but were leaky. They tried to play out from the back and yet did so with such lethargy that Atletico were able to force mistakes with embarrassing ease.
They played Victor Lindelof at right-back to beef up the back line but were overpowered down that wing all night. After Lindelof’s last game in that position – against Leicester on Boxing Day 2020 – Paul Scholes said he never wanted to see a repeat. Quite why Ralf Rangnick chose this game against this opposition to try it is unclear. It was a mistake that lasted 66 minutes.
Even so, you expect the basics to be carried out at a level above shambolic. Cristiano Ronaldo misplaced a three-yard pass. Bruno Fernandes overhit a cross by at least 30 yards and regularly launched the ball to nobody in particular. Fred miscontrolled an overhit pass and was hugely fortunate to receive a free-kick as Atletico broke clear. Players seemed to shoot wildly from distance because they had run out of other ideas despite exhausting no other options.
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Atletico were ahead before United had even completed a pass in their opponent’s half. Renan Lodi’s wonderful whipped cross – they were a theme of the evening – begged Joao Felix to fling himself into a diving header. The result was aesthetically satisfying, bullet header hitting David de Gea’s near post and making contact with the net in the other corner. It was only Felix’s second headed goal for Atlet; he will never score a better one.
If Rangnick’s theory was that the elimination of away goals made safety-first strategy away from home sensible, that was misguided too. Atletico have conceded 34 goals in 25 La Liga matches this season and kept one clean sheet in the Champions League group stages. Their confidence is fragile. By sitting back, they invited pressure that they should have enforced and passed up any initiative.
United corrected that over the last 15 minutes. Suddenly, passes were played to feet rather than behind their intended target. Finally, players were moving into space to demand the ball rather than standing and waiting. Eventually, Bruno picked the right pass and Elanga found his finish. He is quickly becoming an unlikely main actor in Manchester United’s season.
That must be a lesson to them before the second leg at Old Trafford. Atletico Madrid are not the elite opponent that most remember. They are defensively unsound and Jan Oblak has stopped overperforming and started underperforming.
They are fully capable of running the midfield – and Geoffrey Kondogbia was the game’s best player – but so is any opponent in this competition if you let them. Rangnick got it wrong in Madrid; calamity was averted. But he must avoid making the same mistake again. Fortune favours the brave (particularly when you can’t pass the ball proficiently in your own half).
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/uMBH2XO
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