Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid: We did not do enough in both games, says David De Gea

Manchester United lost the second leg 1-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night by Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.

File photo - David De Gea during training; Credit: Twitter@D_DeGea
By Karthik Raman | Mar 16, 2022 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea could not hide his disappointment when analysing their defeat in the Champions League round-of-16 clash. United lost the second leg 1-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night by Spanish champions Atletico Madrid. A first half header by Renan Lodi was enough for Diego Simeone’s men to close out a narrow victory and book their place in the quarterfinals of the competition. The defeat means Manchester United have to finish another season without a trophy, as they will only have a top four battle to fight for in the final couple of months of this season. 

“We are really disappointed with the result,” De Gea told MUTV and BT Sport. “Obviously, it’s difficult to describe in words how we feel now at the moment, but we did not do enough in both games to win both games. So we were not at our best, to be honest. But it’s a very disappointing day for us. It is always tough going out of the Champions League, especially the way we did getting a draw in Madrid and we should have won this game, to be honest. But we don’t win the game and we are out again. Another bad year for us so it is very, very tough.”

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

It’s really difficult to score against them: De Gea

De Gea then went on to explain how difficult it is to break an Atletico side that is protecting its lead. “As soon as they scored the goal, they put the whole team in front of [Jan] Oblak,” De Gea said. “10 players there, defensive. A very defensive team and it’s really difficult to score against them, but we tried. We tried until the end – it was not enough to score a goal.

“They’re a team with a lot of experience. They know how to play those games, Champions League games, tight games. They scored the goal and sit in – so it was very difficult for us to create chances, we didn’t create many chances. This is football, this is Champions League and we are out of one of the most important competitions and so we are really, really sad.”

The Spanish goalkeeper also spoke about Manchester United ending another campaign without any silverware. “It’s too many years without a trophy or fighting for trophies. Every year, we want to achieve good things, fight for trophies and play for top four and be there and get out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals, so we need much more from everyone because this club is too big to be where we are now,” he added.

“Of course, we want the best for this club. Myself, I have been here many, many years and I love the club. A difficult season again. I believe, but I don’t know when this club will be back at the top and we will are going to be fighting for big things.”





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