The very good match of Félix and Renan Lodi, the sad attack of Manchester United or the nervous crack of Atlético: the Tops and Flops of the round of 16 Atlético Madrid-Manchester United (1-1)
Tops
The Felix Jewel
The number 7 of Atlético Madrid made the defense of Manchester United dizzy. Immediately on his feet, João Félix finds the fault in the space of 7 minutes, with a header worthy of the greatest numbers 9 in history. Well helped by the very good center of Lodi, the young Portuguese slams an unstoppable header at the near post, which enters after a rebound on the amount of De Gea. Very fair technically and sharp on his shots, he missed the Colchoneros a lot after his exit (in the 75th). He walked out to a standing ovation from the Wanda Metropolitano.
untenable lodi
The Brazilian defender was excellent in his left piston role tonight. He produced a lot of effort in his lane, was a decisive passer on Felix’s goal. He caused Lindelof to leave in the 65th minute, unable to stop the 23-year-old’s overflowing talent. He was replaced in the 75th minute of play by Lemar, and his absence was going to cost Atlético dearly since it was in a left lane neglected by Lemar that the young Elanga rushed in to fix Oblak. Like João Félix, Renan Lodi got his ovation when he left.
Flops
Mancunian attack
Zero ball touched in the first half. This is the sad statistic of the Mancunian attack after 45 minutes of play, a first since the start of this Champions League 2021-2022. A Ronaldo too alone in front, muzzled by five unleashed Atlético defenders. Without solutions, Cristiano Ronaldo often complained about the lack of help from his teammates in the last 30 meters. It took a tactical readjustment at the break and the entry of young Anthony Elanga (born in 2002) to finally find the net.
The nervous crack of Atlético 20 minutes from the end
We thought we were back at Atlético from the great years, but Cholo Simeone’s players have fallen back into their bad habits of recent seasons. While in full possession of the game in the first half, the Colchoneros still lacked consistency. In the second period, they were jostled by the Mancunian reaction and in particular because of this strong pressure at loss, a trademark of Rangnick, which Manchester United has so much difficulty integrating. In difficulty at the end of the match, Simeone’s men showed anxiety and a rather glaring loss of control, chaining stupid faults and gestures of humor. It is quite logical that they cash the goal of equalization in the 79th.
