Anthony Elanga came off the bench to help Manchester United score their crucial equaliser in the 80th minute during their 1-1 draw against Atlético Madrid.
Hours before kick-off, the Atlético supporters formed a human wall outside the Wanda Metropolitano.
Describing this, L’Equipe say the Madrid sky was ‘set ablaze with the bright red of smoke, under a deafening clamour’. This set the ‘tone’ for the fixture and Diego Simeone’s men ‘attacked the match with the same tempo’.
Operating in the centre of the pitch, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Héctor Herrera ‘suffocated’ the Red Devils’ midfield.
Describing United’s start to the game, the newspaper stated: ‘Feverish from the start and destabilised by the hostile reception of the stadium, transformed into a pressure cooker, the Mancunians did not take long to give in.’
João Félix put the hosts ahead in the 7th minute with a diving header.
Although Félix beat Harry Maguire to put Atlético in front, the England international was given a rating of 5/10 by L’Equipe. The centre-back, along with Fred, David de Gea and Bruno Fernandes were also given the same rating.
Raphaël Varane, Luke Shaw and Cristiano Ronaldo were all given the second-best rating of 4/10. Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba and Victor Lindelöf received 3/10 while Marcus Rashford got just 2/10.
L’Equipe were not the only newspaper to be critical of Manchester United players’ performances against Diego Simeone’s side.
AS state the Premier League side were ‘not a team’ and were just a group of players who ‘had no idea’ how to play as a unit. The Spanish outlet were even more critical of the English club’s attackers.
‘Sunken, disoriented, bordering on embarrassment. Sancho and Rashford were two islands and Cristiano was lost in other wars, all far away. With the whistles, with the referee, with the teammate who didn’t pass him a ball,’ stated AS.
While the Atlético attackers were causing trouble to United’s centre-backs, AS add the fullbacks, Lindelöf and Shaw, were ‘non-existent’.
They were even more critical about Pogba. AS said: ‘His was a masterclass of everything a midfielder shouldn’t do. With and without a ball.’
When giving ratings, AS gave blanks to Lindelöf, Shaw, Pogba, Fred, Sancho and Ronaldo. Apart from these and Elanga [received three stars], every other player who featured against Los Rojiblancos got one star.
Elanga’s late goal should give Manchester United confidence heading into the second leg.
