Manchester United vs Atletico Madrid Preview

After their exciting win over Tottenham in the Premier League, Manchester United will turn their attention to the Champions League where they host Atletico Madrid on Tuesday for the second leg of their 1/8 finals UCL tie.

The Red Devils welcome Diego Simeone’s side to Old Trafford on the back of a 3-2 win over fellow top-four hopefuls Tottenham. That win, which was secured courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo’s hattrick, kept Ralf Rangnick’s side in contention for a top-four finish in the Premier League.

That result also extended their unbeaten run at home to four games (W2, D2) and would have given them confidence going into this tie.

To get a win in this game, the hosts will have to perform better than they did in the first leg where they needed a late second-half goal by Anthony Elanga to snatch a 1-1 draw.

They will also have to improve on their defencive showing, having conceded in all but one of their last five games in all competitions.

But given that they are unbeaten in three UEFA competition games against Spanish opponents at Old Trafford (W2, D1), Man United are well placed to reach their first UCL quarter-final since 2018/19.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo, whose hat-trick against Tottenham saw him score a FIFA record 807th club goal will be raring to go against Atletico who he has scored 25 goals–only against Sevilla has he scored more.

For Atletico Madrid, they will be desperate to make it four wins in four games when they travel to Manchester on Tuesday.

After a poor first half of the season, the Spanish giants have found their footing at a crucial stage of the season.

They come into this game unbeaten in five games (W4) while they have lost only one of their last six games in all competitions.

Diego Simeone’s side beat Cadiz 2-1 in their last league outing to take their winning run to three games and also keep their place in the top four of the Spanish La Liga.

After scoring 2+ goals in each of their last three games, they will fancy their chances of getting a couple of goals at Old Trafford. However, their defencive record going into this tie doesn’t inspire confidence as they have conceded 2+ goals in each of their last three visits to English clubs in the UEFA competition (W1, L2).

They also have one clean sheet in five competitive away games (W2, D1, L2) and so they must do better defencively if they want to make their second UCL quarter-final appearance in five campaigns.