Manchester United’s bright first half performance faded away as they exited the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid.
United deserved to be ahead after the first half hour, but Atletico launched three dangerous counter attacks before half time, scoring from one through Renan Lodi.
In truth, United did not recover, looking shaken by the adversity and unable to create too much from open play.
The performance may have been worthy of a draw but United find themselves licking their wounds again and here are three stats we think sum up the night…
Diogo Dalot had the most shots of any United player
This was the first time since May 2011 in which Cristiano Ronaldo did not have a single shot in a Champions League game.
Ronaldo kept pulling out wide and he was unable to haunt his old foes Atletico.
Usually, it is Ronaldo or Bruno Fernandes who dominate the scoring stats for United, but it was their Portuguese countryman Diogo Dalot who had the most shots in a red shirt, with four, as per WhoScored.
That sums up United on the night; unable to force enough clear openings and making the wrong decisions. There were times when Dalot shot when he should have crossed it in.
That can happen in a frustrated team when they don’t keep their patience and unfortunately United fell into that trap as the second half wore on.
David de Gea had more touches than Anthony Elanga
This was a huge night for Anthony Elanga after his equaliser off the bench in the first leg.
On form, he deserved to start ahead of Marcus Rashford and had the best chance of the night to put United ahead.
He probably thought he just had to get the ball on target to score from Bruno’s low cross but Jan Oblak managed to get his face in the way.
As per WhoScored, Elanga had just 22 touches before he was replaced by Rashford after 66 minutes. David de Gea had 26, for context.
That sums up United’s struggles to get him into the team, as the Swede kept running inside to try and trouble Atletico’s back three but drifted out of the game as it wore on.
That said, Rashford did not offer an improvement as his struggles continued on a night where United could have done with him rediscovering his old form.
Juan Mata matched Paul Pogba’s touch tally in 17 fewer minutes
Ralf Rangnick’s triple substitution which saw Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic come on at the same time as Rashford was meant to keep the tempo up and swing the game back United’s way.
In actual fact, all three players showed why the German didn’t start them, failing to have an influence or get to the speed of the game.
Rangnick then threw on Edinson Cavani with 15 minutes left, before introducing Juan Mata for Harry Maguire on 83 minutes.
That was a rail Hail Mary, with Mata handed just his fifth appearance of the season at a time when United needed him the most.
But the Spaniard was actually United’s best substitute, matching Pogba’s touch tally in the short time he was on the pitch, and showing a composure and quality which was missing.
Cavani only had five touches, while Mata and Pogba had nine and the former Chelsea man probably should have been put on the stoppage time corner and free kicks which Alex Telles wasted.
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