Atletico Madrid go up against Manchester United on Wednesday, February 23 at 8:00 pm. The match will be played at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
The Red Devils finished top of Group F to advance to the knockout round of the competition. While Atletico claimed the second spot in Group B behind Liverpool to ensure that they would be present at this stage. The two teams are currently struggling in their respective domestic leagues but the Champions League is something entirely different. Teams save their best performances for such European nights.
Atletico Madrid enters Wednesday’s contest after a 3-0 win against Osasuna with goals from Joao Felix, Luis Suarez and Angel Correa. The Spanish Champions have struggled this season and find themselves outside of the Champions League spots at 5th. They are 15 points behind league leaders in Real Madrid. Diego Simeone’s side will be hoping to turn their fortunes around after a disappointing league season.
Atletico Madrid Champions League Form: W L L L W D
Atletico Madrid Form in all competitions: W L W L W L
Manchester United come to this game on the back of a 4-2 win over derby rivals Leeds United. Goals from Fred and Anthony Elanga coming off the bench sealed three vital points for the Red Devils. They sit 4th in the table, four points clear of West Ham, having played the same number of games. New manager Ralf Rangnick is finally starting to gel with his squad and United will hope to come out all guns blazing in this clash of the titans. And Cristiano Ronaldo will savour a return to Madrid as the European nights’ return.
Manchester United Champions League Form: D W D W W L
Manchester United Form in all competitions: W W D D L W
ATLETICO MADRID TEAM NEWS
The Red and Whites have only faced Man United on one previous occasion, tackling them in the second round of the 1991-92 Cup Winners’ Cup, with the Spanish outfit winning 4-1 on aggregate. However they twice lost to English opposition – Liverpool – in the group stages of this season’s Champions League.
Atletico will be without the services of both Yannick Carrasco and Felipe through suspension on Wednesday night, while Daniel Wass and Matheus Cunha are both out through knee injuries.
The home side is also sweating on the availability of Thomas Lemar following a suspected positive COVID-19 test, but Antoine Griezmann is back fit, recovering from a muscular problem to make the squad against Osasuna, and the France international is expected to be on the bench here.
Simeone could decide to start Sime Vrsaljko at right-back with Marcos Llorente ahead of him, while Cunha’s absence in the final third could see Joao Felix start alongside Luis Suarez; Geoffrey Kondogbia could also come into the team alongside Koke in the middle of the park.
ATLETICO MADRID POSSIBLE LINEUP AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED
Oblak; Vrsaljko, Gimenez, Savic, Reinildo; Llorente, Koke, Kondogbia, Correa; Felix, Suarez
MANCHESTER UNITED TEAM NEWS
As for Man United, Mason Greenwood is out due to a club suspension, while Edinson Cavani remains a doubt due to a groin problem, but Eric Bailly could recover from an ankle issue to make the squad.
Interim head coach Rangnick has big decisions to make all over the field following the win over Leeds, with Elanga’s energy and work rate potentially earning the youngster a start in a wide area ahead of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard.
Fred is also in contention, but Paul Pogba has impressed since his return from injury and could feature alongside Scott McTominay in midfield, with Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Ronaldo also starting.
Diogo Dalot and Raphael Varane both came out of the starting side against Leeds but are expected to return to the back four for this match, with Victor Lindelof and Aaron Wan-Bissaka dropping to the bench.
MANCHESTER UNITED POSSIBLE LINEUP AGAINST ATLETICO MADRID
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Pogba; Elanga, Fernandes, Sancho; Ronaldo
OUR PREDICTION
Atletico Madrid 1 – 1 Manchester United
Both teams would view a draw as a positive result ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford, and we are finding it difficult to separate them here. Man United are more than capable of finding the back of the net in Madrid, but Atletico will also expect to score at Wanda Metropolitano, so this contest could finish 1-1.
Both teams have struggled of late and we are anticipating a cagey affair.
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