Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, and Manchester United cut a sorry figure at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. Atletico Madrid drove the final nail in the coffin of a miserable season for United as Renan Lodi’s header sent the Spanish champions into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a 1-0 win to progress 2-1 on aggregate. The Brazilian full-back headed in unmarked at the back post four minutes before half-time to end United’s last chance of silverware this season as their drought without a trophy since 2017 goes on. United now face an uphill task just to get back into the Champions League next season as an under-performing squad filled with star names sits fifth in the Premier League.
Embarrassing records
The night was worse for Ronaldo, who had returned to United in the hope of winning Europe’s biggest titles. Instead, his European season ended with a series of embarrassing records in front of home fans.Heading into the second leg against Atletico, United were tied 1-1 with the Spanish side after the first leg. However, a fantastic, match-winning hat-trick in an English Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, meant that Ronaldo would have been high on confidence as he strolled on to the turf at Theatre Of Dreams. To add to this, Ronaldo had consistently been the scourge of Atletico in the Champions League, twice landing the ultimate blow in final defeats to Real Madrid and scoring a hat-trick for Juventus to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit at this stage three years ago. But shockingly, Europe’s most successful striker could not manage a single shot across the entire 90 minutes of play. Worse still, he failed to touch the ball even once inside Atletico Madrid’s penalty box throughout the entire match.
Atletico Madrid players celebrate their win over Manchester United on Tuesday. Pics/Getty Images
In fact, across the two legs, Ronaldo managed to execute just two shots from outside the box. Consequently, the Portuguese super star, who has won as many as five Champions League titles with two different clubs, will finish without a trophy for the first time in 12 years as United are out of all cup competitions and positioned fifth in the Premier League.
‘A disappointing day’
United goalkeeper David de Gea admitted that the Red Devils were just not good enough. “We’re really disappointed with the result. It’s difficult to put into words how we feel. It’s a very disappointing day for us. They [Atletico] are a team with great experience. We’re out of one of the most important competitions, so we are very sad,” De Gea told BT Sport.
With inputs from AFP
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