Atletico Madrid are through to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals after beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday in their round of 16 second leg, 1-0. Diego Simeone's side advanced narrowly on aggregate, 2-1, thanks to Brazilian defender Renan Lodi. The fullback scored the winner in the first half with a back-post header where he was inexcusably left unmarked, while Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak made some key saves in goal to keep their European dreams alive. Atletico Madrid became the second Spanish team to advance, joining rival Real Madrid.
United started and ended the game on the front foot, but their finishing was nowhere to be found just days after one of their most encouraging performances in attack. Cristiano Ronaldo had a hat trick on the weekend in the win over Tottenham, but in this one he had only one shot.
Atleti managed to eat up clock at the end of the match with their possession, stunning the home fans that will once again have to wait for continental supremacy. Once again, the dark horses of Spain have booted an English club and look capable of making another deep run.
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Here are three takeaways from the match:
Joao Felix was the real hero of the tie
Joao Felix has a ton of pressure on him, viewed a few years back as the next big thing and not showing the consistency needed. But his impact across the two legs cannot be denied. He scored the opener in the first leg, and it was just the awareness here on their winning goal to tuck in to pull the defender and heel it to Antoine Griezmann, who would get the assist. Take a look:
It's not magical, it's not overly cheeky, but it was simple and smart, taking advantage of a Manchester United defense that was, at times, cringe-worthy. It was the right ball to play, and it made all the difference in the end.
Oblak looked like his old self
Oblak has had the roughest season of his career since arriving at Atletico eight years ago, and part of that has been some struggles from him and not having much chemistry with an often-injured defense. But he's got his guys back healthy, and he looked like the best goalkeeper in the world in this one. It wasn't just the save on Anthony Elanga with his face, which is a bit lucky as well, but the confidence on his crosses, his timing on high balls in the box, and how he dealt with swerving shots.
But his top highlight will be this wild face save:
He needed a performance like that, especially being at fault for United's goal in the first leg with poor positioning. This will boost his confidence, and he may just be back on track now after this one.
United crashing out isn't a big surprise
If you are surprised that United are out, then you clearly are just looking at these teams from a historical perspective. An above-average Spanish club that has transformed into a European contender over the last decade against arguably the biggest club in the world, reduced to a shell of its former self, this was no shocker. Atleti have been pulling off results like this for a while (ask Liverpool and Chelsea). United may have had three more shots, nearly 20 percent more possession and almost double the xG (0.91 to 0.52), but let's not forget who we are dealing with. This is a team too reliant on Ronaldo, one that within the last month and a half failed to beat Watford, Burnley and Middlesbrough, and one that will need major help in the Premier League just to get back into UCL.
Atletico clearly are the better side, and they showed it in the end.