There is something about Manchester United and the Champions League this season. Yet again it produced an indifferent display, and yet again it came away with a positive result. Twice Atlético Madrid hit the bar and for a long time it seemed in control of Wednesday's first leg in the round of 16, but a late equalizer from Anthony Elanga salvaged a draw to take back to Old Trafford for the second leg. Nobody should think all United’s problems are suddenly solved, but 1–1 is a result it would happily have taken before the opening kick.
Atlético had been ahead for only 34 minutes in the Champions League so far this season, but it had more than doubled that figure by halftime. United had two-thirds of the ball, but was outplayed in the first half to the extent that it didn’t even have a touch in the Atlético box. There was no sort of attacking structure or fluency, rarely the sense it could hurt Atlético, while at the other end it felt like any defender could make a mistake at any moment.
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