Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid: Four minutes of extra time was a joke, says Ralf Rangnick

Manchester United suffered a heartbreaking exit in the Champions League after getting knocked out in the last 16 stage on Tuesday night. Renan Lodi’s first-half header was enough for Atletico Madrid to secure a narrow 1-0 victory to book their place in the quarterfinals of the competition. United started the match on the front foot, taking the game to the Spanish champions by closing them down quickly. But the Red Devils failed to make the most of the early dominance, and they paid the price for it when Lodi headed home the only goal of the match just before half time. Diego Simeone’s men defended resolutely in the second half to see out the hard-fought victory at Old Trafford. 

Interim manager Ralf Rangnick rued the missed opportunities as Manchester United have nothing but the Premier League top four race to fight for in the last couple of months of the season. “We started the game exactly the way that we wanted to play it, energetically. From the very first minute, we were in control of the game. We could have scored an early goal, when we hit the crossbar and there were two or three other good moments in the first half,” he told club media and BT Sport. 

READ MORE – Renan Lodi’s goal takes Atleti to the quarter-finals of Champions League

“But, unfortunately, we were not able to convert that energy into one or two goals in the first half, which would have been highly important, to score the first goal ourselves. And then we conceded that one transitional moment shortly before half-time and this didn’t make our life any easier. I still believe there was a foul on Anthony Elanga a little bit before that counter-attack moment but the referee and linesman didn’t see it that way.”

There were also some curious refereeing decisions: Rangnick

Rangnick was not happy with the “time-wasting antics” in the second half and was baffled by the added time given at the end of the match. “I don’t think that the game went more than three minutes in a go, it was always interrupted with somebody lying on the floor. I think there were also some curious refereeing decisions. I wouldn’t say, in the end, that they were decisive but at least he fell too often for those time-wasting antics and, in the end, four minutes’ extra time was just a joke for me,” he explained.

Manchester United have a long break before their next match, which will be on 2nd April against Leicester City. In the meanwhile, some of the Red Devils’ players will also travel for international duty. “Well, I would say, on one hand, I think it’s not so bad that the players are on international duty. Maybe it can help them to overcome the frustration they feel right now. And then we’ll see each other in one-and-a-half weeks with those players not on international duty in for a normal week and hopefully training, most of them, in preparation for the Leicester game,” he stated.