The second leg tie of the Champions League round-of-16 clash is set to be an interesting affair after both teams played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse leg.
Follow Us
Manchester United will be welcoming defending Spanish Champions Atletico Madrid to Old Trafford on Tuesday night for a high-octane European battle. The second leg tie of the Champions League round-of-16 clash is set to be an interesting affair after both teams played out a 1-1 draw in the reverse leg in Spain. Anthony Elanga came from the bench to score the 80th-minute equaliser. Earlier, the Spanish side took the lead when Joao Felix scored from Renan Lodi’s inch-perfect cross. With no away goals rule this season in the Champions League, no side has a clear advantage. As a result, the winner on Tuesday night will progress through. Hence, fans can expect an intense clash at Old Trafford on Tuesday,
Ahead of the clash, Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick addressed a lot of questions and also gave an update on the team news. He also explained the doubts he has about Luke Shaw’s participation. “As it is right now, we have all the players available for the game tomorrow, there is a small question mark behind Luke Shaw, he has been training yesterday and today but we have to wait to see if he is fully fit to be available for the game, all the other players are back in training and ready for tomorrow,” he added.
When asked whether with Bruno Fernandes was it another case of a false positive, Rangnick replied, “No, he was tested yesterday negative and that’s the reason why he could train today.”
READ MORE – Cristiano Ronaldo proves yet again he is not finished. But can the same be said about his Manchester United career?
Atletico Madrid are traditionally known for their defensive prowess. They are difficult to break down, irrespective of the attacking talents the opponent teams possess. When Rangnick was asked how important is it to get the first goal and not to concede, he responded, “Yes, it’s very important, even more so against a team like Atletico who don’t mind the other team having the ball. I mean, in the last four or five games they played, including their league games, they had less than 50% possession of the ball. We are aware of that and we need to make sure that if possible we don’t concede at all but, yes, it would be definitely important to score the first goal ourselves.”
Ralf Rangnick then shifted his attention to Raphael Varane, as he praised the French World Cup winner for his contribution to the team. Asked how important is Varane’s presence in the back four, Rangnick replied, “Yes, it’s very important, but with Victor Lindelof, we have also won quite a few games and played well and had quite a few clean sheets.”
“Right now we have top players for central defence and it will be not so easy for me to take that decision tomorrow. Also when Victor came on in the last 10-15 minutes, he played well, but as I said, it’s good to have Rapha fully fit again and it’s also good that we looked after him and he looked after himself, not playing too early again. So now he seems to be fit on a regular basis and can play for us regularly.”
Manchester City vs Liverpool: Talking points from the action-packed draw
