5 Things we learned from Atletico Madrid’s victory over Man United

1. A big first win in the Champions League this season for Atletico Madrid. This was a massive game for both sides for differing reasons but it was Simeone’s side who came out on top with a win in a pretty tight game at the Metropolitano, Simeone’s side got off to a perfect start not even a minute into the game as Alex Baena was played in behind by Kang In-Lee with the Spaniard holding the ball up and finding Pablo Barrios in the box who’s finish just squirmed past Ayden Heaven on the line to put the Spanish side 1-0 up at home. From there you might think United would fold given their current form but they actually responded well and should have equalised with Mbeumo and Rashford missing some great chances in the first half, Atleti thought they doubled their lead on the edge of half-time through Johnny Cardoso but the goal was ruled out for a handball by Marcos Llorente in the build-up. United probably deserved to be level at the break but wouldn’t have been too upset going into half-time just the one-goal down, the second half followed the same trend as the first but Atleti did go close ten minutes in as Alvarez hit the post with a volley in the box which just about sums up his start to the season so far, as United pushed for the equaliser they left themselves open at the back which led to the first real incident of the second half as Leny Yoro was shown a red card for preventing a clear goal scoring opportunity by putting an arm across Jonathan David which brought the Canadian to the floor. Very harsh in my opinion but the rules are different in Europe than they are in the Premier League so you have to take it on the chin, it didn’t take long for Atleti to kill the game as just five minutes after the red card Ademola Lookman followed up on Jonathan David’s shot to make it 2-0 and wrap up all three points for Simeone’s side. A pretty even game overall but Atleti’s experience in Europe definitely got them over the line tonight, what’s the goal for them this season in the Champions League?

2. Can Atletico Madrid make another push for this trophy this season? Making the semi-finals of the Champions League last season was a great achievement for Atletico Madrid and Simeone but I do wonder if there will come a point when it all clicks and they finally get over the line in this competition, I thought they were the better team for large parts of the game at Anfield last month but came out on the wrong end of the result which clearly upset Simeone given the way he was acting on the touchline today. They got off to a perfect start through Pablo Barrios who was the best player on the pitch today but they didn’t seize the moment and kill the game when it looked like United’s confidence had gone already, by half-time they were fortunate to be in the lead in my opinion but the game plan was spot on by Simeone exploiting United’s high-line with balls over the top that got them in behind over and over but they didn’t make the most of the chances they created in the first half. I thought they improved in the second half and Alvarez was unlucky with his shot hitting the post but they had control of the game even if they didn’t have most of the possession, the red card was extremely harsh in my opinion on United but it was street-wise from Jonathan David and won the game for Atleti in that moment. Simeone had some interesting words on Lookman in the press conference saying, “ Lookman isn’t at the level he wants or we want”, and they clearly worked with the Nigerian scoring his first goal of the season with a poachers goal to kill the game. Barrios ran the show in midfield and was by some distance the best player on the park having that intensity that Simeone demands along with the elegance of the great Spanish midfielders that put together makes for an unbelievable player, overall all that mattered today for Simeone was the three points but he will hope his team improves ahead of the next few fixtures.

3. Yet another loss for Man United this season. I suppose it couldn’t get much worse than the Spurs performance on Saturday but the start to the game today completely killed us and allowed Atleti to sit back and counter attack which suited them down to the ground, we should have equalised through Mbeumo and Rashford but we still looked so open at the back with one ball over the top allowing Atleti’s attackers through on goal. The team selection from Carrick was strange with Heaven at left-back, Fernandes on the right-wing and Tielemans in the 10 which didn’t help but obviously with our current injury issues Carrick’s hand are tied to a certain degree, you can talk about the manager all you like but some of the performances out there were once again a complete disgrace. The captain first of all has been a disgrace all season with some shocking body language and that didn’t change today on the right-wing, simply not good enough and he shouldn’t be undroppable in this team when his current performances are as bad as they are. Dalot was shocking at right-back as usual but he’s our only option there which says it all about the business over the summer, I was excited about the Tielemans signing in the summer but he looks miles off the pace at the minute and was asked to press from the front for some reason today which didn’t work for Carrick. The same can be said for Rashford and Mbeumo who simply have to take those chances in the first half as they offer absolutely nothing else on the pitch, what must the likes of Cunha, Mount, Zirkzee etc be thinking having to watch these performances from the bench. Overall United are just in complete turmoil at the minute and I don’t see that changing any time soon with Leeds and Como on the horizon, the end is near I’m afraid for Carrick.

4. Lisandro Martinez’s comments on the club are spot on. Just as I’m writing this Martinez has dropped an absolute bombshell of a post-match interview saying, “ I expected more from our technical director… Carrick does his best, you can keep changing, changing the manager, but what about other areas? I can’t say more. It’s easy to say the coach, it’s easy to say the players , but we also have to see others who are to blame”. This is almost unprecedented at United to call out the higher ups at a club but I think it says a lot about the current feeling around the dressing room, the transfer window was a shambles considering the reinforcements we needed to play three games a week and we saw that today with Heaven at left-back and Mbeumo up front but I actually like that we’ve finally seen a United player calling out the likes of Wilcox, Berrada etc who oversaw the window and leave us in this position. Carrick has got a lot of things wrong so far this season but he’s undoubtedly been set up to fail after finishing 3rd last season and getting into the Champions League, Martinez will almost certainly face fines/sanctions but it’s about time someone in the team called out the board for the constant circus surrounding the club, I didn’t think the club could get any more tumultuous than it already is at the minute but that’s thrown far more wood on the fire than the board wanted right now. I can’t wait to see how they respond over the next few days, what a mess.

5. What’s up next for these two clubs? For Atletico Madrid they are back in action in La Liga on Saturday away to Espanyol before going away to Stuttgart next Tuesday back in the Champions League, United take a trip to Elland Road on Sunday to face Leeds before going to Como next Wednesday in the Champions League. I’ll have Man City vs PSG covered on here tomorrow so stay tuned, anything to take the mind off United at the minute and that game looks like a cracker at the Etihad tomorrow.