In a focus battle in the Quarter-finals of the Champions League that ended in the early morning of March 16, Beijing time, Manchester United, sitting at home, lost 0-1 to Atletico Madrid and was eliminated from the Top 8 of the Champions League with an aggregate score of 1-2.
After a 3-2 win over Tottenham last week, the morale-boosting United started the game quite strongly on the offensive end. But a lack of scrutiny in the backline allowed Atletico to break the deadlock with Lodi. In the second half, The fully counter-attacking United surrounded the Atletico goal, but Sancho, Erlanga and Varane missed the opportunity. Although Ronnick was replaced by Nemanja Matic, Pogba, Rashford, Cavani, Mata and others, he still failed to break through the crowded Atletico City.
With United eliminated by Atletico, they also became the Premier League team to spend the first game in the Champions League this season. Previously, Liverpool and Manchester City have eliminated Inter Milan and Portuguese sports teams to advance to the quarter-finals, while Chelsea also won 2-0 in the first leg, and the hope of advancing to the top eight is quite large. As a result, Manchester United is also very likely to become the only team in the Premier League BIG4 that misses the top 8.
After withdrawing early from this season's Champions League title race, Manchester United basically determined the embarrassing ending of "all four empty" in March. Last summer, United spent a lot of money to bring in superstars such as Varane, Sancho and Ronaldo, determined to make a difference this season.
But previously, Manchester United was first eliminated by West Ham United in the "Carabao Cup" and lost to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup, and now after being blocked by Atletico in the Champions League in the top 8, the only theoretical hope of the title is the Premier League. But now United are 20 points behind in the same 29 games with the leader Manchester City. The hope of winning the title is also quite slim, which will also be the fifth consecutive season of Manchester United's "big four empty". Next season, Manchester United will most likely usher in a new manager, and it is not known whether the new manager can become the "savior" who will end the Manchester United championship drought.