Swedish teenager Anthony Elanga bailed out Manchester United with a late equaliser in a valuable 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their round of 16 Champions League clash this morning.
Interim United manager Ralf Rangnick yanked England international Marcus Rashford in the 75th minute and threw Elanga on in a bid to cancel out Joao Felix’s brilliant first half header.
And it took just five minutes for it to prove an inspired substitution as the 19-year-old found enough space to apply a cool, low finish and silence a feverish crowd at Estadio Wanda Metropolitano.
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The return leg will be on March 16 (AEDT) at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who several times ended Atletico’s title hopes in the Champions League when he was with crosstown rival Real Madrid, struggled throughout the match and was visibly frustrated.
Isolated up front, he was booed by the Atletico fans nearly every time he touched the ball.
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Felix was much more dangerous for Atletico, constantly threatening with his quick turns and strong runs.
The 21-year-old forward opened the scoring with a powerful header off a well placed cross by Renan Lodi.
The ball came off the post before going in to make Felix the first Portuguese player to score a Champions League goal against United since Ronaldo found the net for Juventus against the English side in November 2018.
It was Felix’s seventh Champions League goal in 20 appearances in the competition, and first since 2020.
With the 37-year-old Ronaldo well defended and not being able to connect with his teammates, United seemed beaten until Elanga broke free to find the net from inside the area after a nice through ball from playmaker Bruno Fernandes, the competition’s assists leader with seven.
Griezmann, who started on the bench along with Luis Suarez, had the chance to put Atletico ahead again near the end but his shot hit the crossbar.
Atletico also was held by the woodwork just before halftime when a close range header by Sime Vrsaljko bounced onto the crossbar off the face of United defender Victor Lindelof.
Ronaldo, who had scored in all five group stage matches he played, was visibly frustrated with his team’s struggles and also complained to the referees while going into the changing rooms at halftime.
His best scoring chance came from a 79th minute free kick that sailed high.
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He has only one goal in his last nine games in all competitions in what is one of his leanest spells since becoming a scoring machine in the latter part of his first stint with United from 2003-09.
Ronaldo helped end Atletico’s Champions League title hopes five different times while playing for Real Madrid and Juventus.
He scored hat tricks for Madrid in 2017 and Juventus in 2019, and converted decisive penalty kicks in the finals between the city rivals in 2014 and 2016.
He had 25 goals in 35 career meetings against Atletico, the most against any opponent other than Sevilla.
It was the first meeting between the clubs since the second round of the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup in 1991-92, when Atlético won 4-1 on aggregate.
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