Ralf Rangnick admits Manchester United's right-back experiment against Atletico Madrid was 'in the dustbin' after seven minutes.
Rangnick surprisingly started centre-back Victor Lindelof at right-back even though both specialist right-backs Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka were available.
Joao Felix put Atletico ahead in the seventh minute and Rangnick eventually decided to replace Lindelof and left-back Luke Shaw with Wan-Bissaka and Alex Telles, while Nemanja Matic replaced Paul Pogba in midfield.
Rangnick was forced to pick a midfield without Scott McTominay, who has recently been assigned the holding role, opting to recall Fred rather than defensive midfielder Matic, who had not played in over a month.
Matic brought balance to a loose midfield while Wan-Bissaka and Telles offered energy as Atletico tired and were eventually breached by substitute scorer Anthony Elanga's 80th-minute equaliser.
"What I said about the 'dustbin' was related to Victor Lindelof as a third central defender in the position of right-back," Rangnick said, referring to his television interview. "Of course, the first goal was to keep a clean sheet but after that early goal it was difficult to defend, it was a brilliant cross and a fantastic run for the first goal by Felix, it was difficult to defend that goal.
"But in the first-half, we didn't show those things we needed to show, we were far too apprehensive in possession of the ball. After that first goal they scored, Atletico did what they always do when they are 1-0 up, they pushed the block back and defended in their own half, but we were just not playing the ball or passing the ball with conviction.
"We didn't play the ball vertically, we didn't play into the important, dangerous areas and this made it very easy for them to keep a clean sheet in the first-half.
"Those things went better after we made the first substitutions and with every substitution, we had not more control of the game but we were in the game, we were winning second balls, we were winning balls in midfield and we had our moments up front.
"And if the game had played another 10 minutes we might have even scored a second one. But if you look at the whole game, we have to be happy with the result."
Rangnick was at a loss to explain United's lack of aggression and intensity against a team renowned for playing in the committed image of their coach, Diego Simeone.
"I don't know why this is, this is just my feeling," Rangnick shrugged. "When I look at a game like the one tonight, it's not so easy to play in a very energetic, atmospheric stadium. We were fully aware of what was expecting us, from the crowd and also on the pitch.
"It's one thing to prepare for it and then one thing to cope with it and fight against it. We were lacking in the first-half. We showed it in the last half hour and this is why the game [had] a different twist, we deserved at the end to come back in the game, although we could've been 2-0 down.
"Being 1-0 down, we had quite a few recent games when we were 1-0 up and conceded the equaliser. Today we were on the other side, we scored the equaliser five or ten minutes from the end."
