Manchester United suffered another disappointing night on Tuesday. They lost 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. After the match, Lisandro Martínez made headlines with a strong criticism of the club’s leadership.
Michael Carrick now faces more pressure after the defeat. Leny Yoro’s red card added to United’s problems in Spain. The result also sets up an important clash against rivals Leeds United this weekend.
Our Man Utd analysis looks at the key moments, the defensive problems and Martínez’s post-match comments.
Atletico Madrid (a) Oct 13
United wanted a calm start in Madrid. However, Atletico needed less than a minute to take the lead.
Alex Baena broke down the left and sent a low cross across the box. Pablo Barrios arrived unmarked and fired towards goal. Ayden Heaven got a touch, but the ball crossed the line.
Diogo Dalot also struggled early on. He played a careless pass across his own box and almost gifted Atletico another chance.
United gradually found their rhythm. Marcus Rashford ran behind the defence, while Bryan Mbeumo threatened with a deflected effort that narrowly missed the post.
Martínez then delivered a dangerous pass for Rashford. The forward failed to make the most of the opportunity. Still, United showed signs of attacking promise.
Delicious pass
Rashford failed to connect with a delicious ball in from Martinez when he should have done a little better but it was promising at least. United could maybe even have been ahead.
However, United’s backline looked shakier than a pensioner moonwalking, Ayden Heaven and Yoro doing both well yet inducing heartburn in the space of the same move.
Carrick had rung the changes to try and shore up the midfield with Andrey Santos alongside Carlos Baleba and joined by Youri Tielemans.
This meant Matheus Cunha had made way along with Harry Maguire (both benched) while Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo missed out through injury, or presumably with an eye on the weekend trip to Leeds United.
Meanwhile, the hosts had weathered the United squall and settled back in with more possession.
That said, the next chance saw Mbeumo go close again, playing a neat one-two with Tielemans but denied by Jan Oblak and Carlos Baleba could only head straight at the keeper from the resulting corner.
United were creating at least, just not able to convert.
Lazy defending
At the other end Alejandro Grimaldo shaved the frame of the goal with a free-kick from the right edge of the box after some lazy defending from Rashford put his defence under pressure.
Despite the aforementioned ‘shoring up’ of the engine room, there were still gaping holes at times and the Spaniards looked dangerous on the turn.
Not looking dangerous was Bruno Fernandes, who seemed to be labouring and off the pace, summed up six minutes before the break when he twice cut back inside rather than getting the ball into a loaded box.
Dalot tried to give it away in his own box again and got lucky but within a couple of minutes it looked like it was two.
There were opportunities to clear that weren’t taken, the ball eventually landing at the feet of Johnny Cardoso on the edge of the box and he lashed the ball past Senne Lammens.
Reprieve from VAR review
United protested a handball and after a VAR review, they got their reprieve, Marcos Llorente handling in the build-up.
It would have been a little harsh to be fair and had the game been 2-2 it wouldn’t have been a surprise.
The first big chance of the second half fell to the home side.
Julian Alvarez was the recipient of both poor marking from Dalot and a brilliant pass from Pablo Barrios, his first-time volley smacking against the post and was scrambled clear.
The second fell to Bruno, found by Tielemans’ cross-field find, as he tried to lift the ball over Oblak but it dropped desperately wide of the far post.
Bruno voodoo gone
The United skipper held his head in his hands. Last season that nestles in the corner.
The voodoo has well and truly worn off.
Just past the hour and it felt ripe for changes. It had been better, much better than the weekend, Baleba in particular showing the energy sorely missed.
Carrick obliged, Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo all thrown on for Tielemans, Rashford and Baleba.
The Baleba shift raised an eyebrow but given his lack of minutes and Elland Road ahead, maybe not that unexpected.
Fernandes and Amad worked a corner well for the former to try his luck from the angle and range but his curler cracked the crossbar.
United were still in the game but there were only 20 minutes left to find a goal.
In an instant, any hope was lost.
Red card setback
Jonathan David and Yoro tangled and, despite my partisan leanings, the Canadian looked to go down very easily.
The referee gave United the free-kick but VAR decided otherwise and a red card followed after review.
It was blancmange soft, like the moonwalking pensioner’s attempted erection.
But United were indeed f***ed. Especially a few minutes later when David’s strike was pushed out by Lammens and Ademola Lookman reacted quicker than our traffic cone of a right-back to convert.
Job done by the hosts, more clinical when needed. Simple as that.
Carrick put his skipper out of his misery, maybe also with Leeds in mind, as Cunha got the last 10 minutes along with Maguire (for Heaven).
In a (rugby) league of his own
Dalot put his second cross into no-man’s land – great if you’re playing the League of Rugby but not the League of Champions – while the hosts were content to sit in with numbers and look for the counter.
Cunha saw a late effort saved, as if to punctuate United’s issues in front of goal, but even this result and performance (on the whole) didn’t feel like a disaster.
It was better, or maybe it’s just that Saturday was so shit. But there was effort, legs (for most) and chances.
But fail to capitalise in the CL and you’ll get burned. The hosts took their chances.
You look at the defence and grimace, like when your mam used to hide veg in your mash on the Sunday dinner.
And it’s not just Dalot – although he’s the main culprit.
The sight of Matthijs de Ligt on the bench heartens me, he was in great form before his injury and can only improve us if he is fully fit.
Air freshener needed
And surely Bruno must come through this rare bad patch, right?
Less optimistic was Martinez, who went all-in in his post-match interview, pointing all his fingers towards Jason Wilcox for one, while also admitting his own performance had been questionable.
“I expected more of our Technical Director… last season we did everything and created the base,” he barbed, while also claiming the squad was not Champions League-ready.
I imagine that will be as popular as a fart in a lift.
But the bad smell has a danger of turning into a stench.
A win in West Yorkshire would go a long way to freshening the air.
