Atletico Madrid have exploited the Manchester United weakness that Diego Simeone exposed, with the Spanish side dominating the match at the Metropolitano Stadium on Tuesday, on penalties of the high pressure which the English side had applied.
The first minute was a fantastic one for Atletico with Pablo Barrios opening the scoring. United found difficulty to respond as Ademola Lookman doubled their lead in the 79th minute, consolidating their dominance of the game. The visitors were also left short of ten men with the departure of Leny Yoro, making it more difficult for them to come back.
At the end of the match, Simeone described how Atletico defended against United’s very hard pressing. The Argentine coach told the sporting world that his side would be looking for their opponents to play high and that the eerie behind-the-press would be the chance to set up a dangerous attacking position.
“That press is a press they’re good at making, and if we beat that press we could be in important positions we knew they’d press high,” Simeone told reporters. He also pointed out that Atletico would be going forward in the wings, where their players would be able to break through the United defense.
Simeone said Atletico had chances to build on their lead even more, but that United had a dangerous chance in the first half. He took two general approaches: creating more chances on the attack and always trying to build up a lead.
The loss brings Manchester United’s woes into sharp focus as they have gone five games unbeaten and have had a difficult run of form, according to the report. Britain’s media is suggesting that manager Michael Carrick’s job might be in jeopardy if he doesn’t improve.
