Manchester United welcome Atletico Madrid to Old Trafford for the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 clash on Tuesday night with kickoff at 23:00.
Manchester United were far from their best in first leg as Atletico utterly dominated the night at Wanda metropolitan on Feb 23. The Red Devils lacked sharpness while Atletico hit them relentlessly with counter attacks and will rue their wasted chances as the game settled for a 1-1 draw.
Ralf Rangnick’s side followed up the draw with two disappointing results as they drew 0-0 with a lowly Watford before falling to a humiliating 4-1 defeat at Etihad in Premier League.
However, United warmed-up for the Tuesday clash with a 3-2 victory against Tottenham Hotspur. It was Spurs who had a good game generally but was not enough for them to get anything out of the match as Cristiano Ronaldo stole the show and the points.
The Portuguese put on a performance that was a perfect response to the all who doubted him and to be honest the 37 year-old has really achieved a lot to be doubt at this point. He netted his 59th hat-trick on Saturday, making history and the hat-trick also him become the top scorer off all time with 807 goals throughout his career so far.
The Red Devils have failed to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition since 2018-19, failing to make it out of the group stage last term, but with the weekend’s inspiration, United stand a chance of progressing this time around.
Meanwhile Atletico Madrid having been unstoppable since the draw with the side claiming three consecutive wins in La Liga. They first edged Celta Vigo 2-0 at home, and then proceeded to beat Real Betis 3-1 at away, before returning home to claim a 2-1 victory against Cadiz last Friday.
Atletico will be aware that they should have put the tie to bed at Wanda Metropolitano and Diego Simeone will expect more and a better result from his side on Tuesday. Although, they are facing an unpredictable Manchester United side with Cristiano Ronaldo looking sharper than ever.
With everything to play for in this match, we expect a close and exciting encounter and Diego will hope that he can finally overcome the ‘Cristiano Ronaldo curse’ and take his side to the next round of the competition
Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid head to head
The two sides have met thrice so far with Atletico winning once while two games ended in draw, including the 1-1 draw three weeks ago. Take a look at their previous results;
Home
- Man United 3-2 Tottenham
- Man City 4-1 Man United
- Man United 0-0 Watford
- Atletico 1-1 Man United
- Leeds 2-4 Man United
Away
- Atletico 2-1 Cadiz
- Real Betis 1-3 Atletico
- Atletico 2-0 Celta Vigo
- Atletico 1-1 man United
- Osasuna 0-3 Atletico
Man United team news
United have no fresh injury or suspension concerns ahead of the Tuesday’s clash, although Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw are doubts.
Atletico Madrid team news
Atletico will be without Jose Maria Gimenez, Mathues Cunha, Daniel Wass and Sime Vrsaljko due to injurie, while Yannick is suspended and Tomas Lamar and Geoffrey Kondogbia are douts.
Prediction and odds
- Manchester United win
- Both sides to score
- Goals over 2.5
