Atletico Madrid proved there’s life left in La Liga yet when they knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening, winning the tie 2-1 on aggregate.
Los Rojiblancos had outplayed the Premier League side in the first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano but only managed to come away with a 1-1 draw. Joao Felix had given them the lead only for Anthony Elanga to equalise for United inside the final ten minutes.
But no such equaliser came on Tuesday. This time it was Brazilian wing-back Renan Lodi who scored the decisive goal, scoring a back-post header four minutes before the half-time break.
The result is huge for Atletico given how trying their season has been. Despite their status as La Liga champions they’ve failed to impress and find themselves battling for a place in the top four rather than the title. But now, thanks to a tough and resilient performance, they can dream of European glory.
“The team is healthy and that’s big for us when we’re playing away from home,” Antoine Griezmann said post-match as carried by Marca. “Today we saw that again. We saw a strong Atletico, a solid team. We wanted to show we can play these games and it’s an honour to be here. We’re going to go little by little. Let’s enjoy tonight. Then there’s a very important game on Saturday and then we can dream. But our feet are on the ground.”
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