The Champions League is the club’s only remaining opportunity to win silverware this season
Chaotic. Shambolic. Disorderly. Those are a few words to describe Manchester United’s season so far.
The most decorated club in English football has struggled to find any real form this campaign and ending their five-year wait for a trophy looks unlikely.
They sit fourth in the Premier League – 17 points behind leaders Manchester City – and they’ve been dumped out of both domestic cup competitions, most recently in a humiliating FA Cup defeat to Championship outfit Middlesbrough.
That means all hope rests on their Champions League campaign, where they will face Spanish champions Atletico Madrid in the round of 16, with the first leg taking place at the Wanda Metropolitano tonight.
If the visitors are to take a first-leg advantage back to Old Trafford, they will have to do something they have never achieved before – win in Madrid.
They are winless in five games at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu and, in their only two matches against Atletico, they lost 3-0 at the Vicente Calderon and drew 1-1 at home in their two-legged 1991 European Cup Winners’ Cup meeting.
Atletico are not the side they previously were heading into Man United tie
But, with Diego Simeone’s men struggling to find the same consistency as last season, this could be Man United’s best opportunity to end their wretched run in the Spanish capital.
Los Colchoneros appear to no longer be the tough-tackling, organised and resolute outfit they have come to be known for in recent years. Instead, the Spaniards sit fifth in La Liga and have kept just nine clean sheets in 34 matches so far this campaign.
They lost 1-0 to bottom side Levante in their latest home fixture and have won just three of their last eight matches in all competitions, placing them – and their under-pressure Argentinian coach – in a similar position to the visitors.
Qualifying for the knockout rounds also proved to be a tricky task.
Despite winning just two of their Group B matches and finishing 11 points behind runaway leaders Liverpool, they managed to seal their place in the last 16 with a 3-1 victory away to Porto on matchday six, in what was a winner takes all clash.
Man United showed character to reach the knockout rounds
As for Man United, although qualification for the knockout rounds was secured with a game to spare, the group stage wasn’t quite as straightforward as the final Group F standings may suggest.
The Red Devils’ campaign got off to a shocking start, losing 2-1 in Bern to Young Boys, courtesy of a Theoson Siebatcheu winner in the 95th minute, to pile the pressure on to then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
His side responded, though, with back-to-back victories over Villarreal and Atalanta to propel them into top spot.
But their most crucial result of all came on matchday four in the small Italian city of Bergamo, just 40km outside of Milan.
They headed into the fixture on six points, with their Serie A opponents level on four points with Villarreal.
Atalanta took the lead in the game through Slovenian forward Josip Ilicic’s left-footed strike, before Man United’s talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored the winner in the return fixture two weeks previously, drew his side level on the stroke of half-time following an incisive team move.
The Italians once again took the lead shortly after the break, as the lively Duvan Zapata sprang the offside trap and slotted home, leaving the visitors needing to respond to ensure they weren’t relegated down to third spot.
And cometh of the hour, cometh of the man.
With his side looking set for a second Champions League away defeat of the season, Ronaldo’s sweetly struck volley rescued a point in injury time.
That ensured they remained in top spot and allowed them to seal their place in the knockout rounds with a 2-0 victory at Villarreal in their penultimate group fixture.
Man United head into Atletico clash on the back of improved form
Since then, there has been a fair bit of turbulence for the club, though, with Ralf Rangnick replacing Solskjaer on the back of several poor results.
Although their defensive record has improved significantly since the German’s arrival – conceding more than once in a game on just two occasions – he has struggled to get the best out of a number of key players, including Ronaldo.
On his return to Madrid, the Portuguese superstar will be desperate to make an impression and get back to scoring ways, having registered just one goal this calendar year.
And, given the importance of this heavyweight Champions League tie, he and his teammates will be hoping to recapture the spirit shown in Bergamo to keep their European hopes and, ultimately, their season alive.
