In the previous round of the Premier League, the Portuguese broke the world record, and in the meeting with Atlético he simply disappeared on the field. What happened?
Before the start of any Champions League match, the fan is filled with special feelings. Firstly, these are the most high-profile games with the most powerful teams, and secondly, the enchanting anthem of the tournament, which sets you up for watching. Everything changes with the starting whistle, and here the feeling of the spectacle is sometimes replaced by boredom.
This happened in the return game of the 1/8 finals of Manchester United – Atlético. A scoring extravaganza was not expected, but no one expected to see such uninteresting football, which plunged into absolute sadness. I’m not sure that the fans even watched it to the end.
But who exactly watched it is Cristiano Ronaldo. The star Portuguese stayed on the field the whole game, but did absolutely nothing.
What happened to the world’s top scorer?
A boring game was brightened up by a beautiful goal from Atlético
The first match ended in a draw 1:1. Already in the first ten minutes, the “mattress” opened the scoring with a brilliant dive by Joao Felix, and then, a few minutes before the end, Atlético missed the victory, allowing Anthony Elanga to rendezvous with the goalkeeper and roll the ball down. By the way, Elanga started the second match as cheerfully as he had finished the previous one. Already in the first 15 minutes, he had two good chances – first he fought for a riding ball with Jan Oblak and almost injured the goalkeeper, and then hit the Slovenian at point-blank range in the head. In general, Cloud rushed to rescue the team with all available body parts.
If we talk about the attack of the guests, it was striking how they reached David De Gea’s penalty area in three or four touches, though then it all ended due to inaccurate passes or competent actions of the United defenders. But the “mattress” stubbornly bent their line and finally got their way (though not on the first try). At the 33rd minute, Felix shot the gate from the goalkeeper’s limits, but it turned out that Marcos Llorente, who was passing the pass, was offside. A little later, Renan Lodi scored, and it was already according to the rules. Atlético players played the ball well in the center, and then Antoine Griezmann crossed the ball from the right flank to the Brazilian, who headed it into the near corner. A very beautiful combination! And time, speaking as a whole, was boring.
Where was Cristiano Ronaldo?
If in the first half there was a goal and at least some moments, then in the second half it was much worse in terms of entertainment. Naturally, United had more possession of the ball, but the players did not show the proper aggression or speed. Most importantly, it was as if there was no main scorer Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, although he ran all 90 minutes. What’s the matter? Exhausted after a hat-trick for Tottenham?
In fact, everything is more prosaic. The ball simply did not reach the Portuguese, he practically did not have the opportunity to think of something, break through or play on the standard. The partners sent all the balls above the striker’s head, and when Ronaldo decided to work with the ball, he received it far from the Cloud’s goal. This is not the element of today’s Cristiano.
United have once again shown that they have catastrophic problems in positional attack, while Atlético have a very competent defense. What other scenario could fans expect? Dry game with a minimum of goals, and it happened.
Diego Simeone’s gang is moving on as Manchester mourns their Champions League exit. Ronaldo did not reach the quarterfinals of the tournament after his old friend Lionel Messi.