By the time the next opportunity to win a domestic or a continental trophy presents itself to Manchester United, it will have been five full years since they last won one. A 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford at the hands of Atletico Madrid put the Red Devils out of contention for this season’s UEFA Champions League, sealing off their final avenue for silverware this year.
Had Anthony Elanga taken one of his two early chances, things could’ve turned out differently; the youngster glanced a header wide early on before smashing the ball straight at Jan Oblak’s head from close range. Atletico emerged from the early United pressure stronger, and soon their passing patterns inside the opposition began to grow in prominence.
One such move freed Marcos Llorente on the right to feed Joao Felix with an inch-perfect cross, which the youngster converted, only for the goal to be called back for an offside against the former. However, the flag stayed down in the 41st minute, when Antoine Griezmann’s cross from the same flank was headed in by Renan Lodi at the back post.
Atletico, ahead 2-1 on aggregate, had their custodian Oblak to thank for making a few excellent saves to keep their lead intact. Los Rojiblancos remained unscathed, though, and progressed to the next round at the expense of United when the referee blew his whistle after more than 95 minutes of play, just as the mood soured inside Old Trafford, and opposition head coach Diego Simeone was pelted with projectiles.
In the other Round-of-16 game, SL Benfica came away with a surprise win against Ajax, marking their progression into the next round. Struggling domestically this season, Benfica, the Portuguese outfit endured Ajax pressure for almost two-thirds of the game. But, the tide turned in favor of the Aguias in the 77th minute when Darwin Nunez headed in from close range, what turned out to be the winning goal.
Benfica and Atletico joined Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich ahead of Friday’s quarter-final draw.
