Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United Preview

Atletico Madrid will welcome Manchester United to the Wanda Metropolitano this Wednesday for the first leg of their Champions League knockout tie.

After securing a 3-0 win over Osasuna last weekend, the La Liga defending champions will turn their attention to the Champions League where they are looking to avoid another exit at the hands of an English team.

Los Rojiblancos are playing in their eighth Champions League (UCL) knockout appearance in the last nine seasons and will fancy their chances of causing another huge upset.

However, they will count themselves lucky to be in this stage of the tournament after a woeful group stage outing that saw them win just two games (D1, L3). The seven points they took from the previous round means that Diego Simeone’s side come into this round as the side with the lowest points tally still in the competition.

They also scored the lowest of teams that qualified for this round – seven goals (level with Benfica and Lille).

However, they are usually a different outfit at home at this stage of the tournament as they are unbeaten in 14 UCL home knockout games.

Meanwhile, Manchester United will look to get a first-leg win when they travel to Spain.

Ralf Rangnick’s side come into this tie on the back of a fiercely contested 4-2 win over bitter rivals Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday. That win was secured courtesy of second-half goals from Fred and Anthony Elanga after they had blown away a two-goal lead.

Their win over Leeds kept their top-four hopes alive in the league and also extended their unbeaten run to four games in all competitions.

They qualified for this stage of the tournament as group leaders after winning three of their group games (D2, L1).

Ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford, the Red Devils will look to get a good result in this game. The last time they visited Spain they ran out 2-0 winners. And so, they will be desperate for another good showing on Spanish soil.

However, they must be in their best shape to take anything from this game given that they have only won one of their last seven UCL knockout games in Spain and can only boast a mere 21% win rate in away games in competitions against Spanish clubs.