r/atletico • u/matchpal-live • 4d ago
Match Discussion Post-Match Thread: Atlético Madrid 2-0 Manchester United | Champions League | League Stage
Atlético Madrid 2-0 Manchester United — MatchPal post-match thread
This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post
13
u/sancredo Diego Forlán 3d ago
I am genuinely impressed by Cardoso. Dude is on fire, so happy for him. He deserves it!
18
13
u/cheppers Oblak 3d ago
Is there an image of the handball that nullified Cardoso’s goal? In all the replays I couldn’t really see it hit Llorente’s hand.
19
u/Proper-Law-529 4d ago
Good night overall, with a lot of players playing well. For me Barrios was man of the match. Not just the goal inside the first minute: he kept the ball, got us from our half into theirs smoothly, and set up both of Julián's chances (over the bar at 42', off the post at 54').
Johnny was really good too. If his goal had stood before half time (VAR found a Llorente handball in the build-up), he'd have been the hero. One risky pass in stoppage time, but he played the full 90 and controlled the game. Grimaldo made the key pass to David for the second, and watching him this season I think he belongs in central areas rather than out wide. He's always a threat when he carries it into the final third.
I wanted Julián to score tonight. David did better, though he had the numerical advantage for most of his time on the pitch, and Hjulmand's pass to him is what got Yoro sent off. With the team winning anyway, I'm starting to feel we can be patient with Julián.
Full report with player ratings: https://cholismo-lab.com/en/match-report/2026-10-13-atletico-2-0-man-utd?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2026-10-13-atletico-2-0-man-utd
3
23
9
u/Little-Homie Llorente 4d ago
Happy we got the W, it’s really disheartening to see RLN in this form tho. As many others have said pre and post head injury are two diff players. Always gonna root for a player to make a full recovery but things are looking grim 😔. Oblak was amazing today also!
26
u/Khayonic Simeone 4d ago
They had their chances too tbh. I was very disappointed Johnny's goal was called back, it was so well taken and he has played so well.
-1
u/BigEv1 4d ago
In what planet was that a red? I thought football was contact soort? Ref gave away the game there.... ridiculous
12
u/Fun_Quantity4464 3d ago
It’s not the severity of the contact that causes the red, but it was a foul from begind nevertheless. And one that prevented the striker from taking a clear shot as a last man in front of goal. Equals red as per the rules.
25
u/TheDrownedG0d 4d ago
David should be a starter. Starting Alvarez, who is completely out of form and doesnt want to be here, is just stupid. Barrios, Cardoso and Oblak, our best players in this game
25
u/Prestigious_Bug_4169 4d ago
Tbh people in this sub will kill me for this. But I would like to see both Alvarez and David starting against Espanyol. We can play 442 and pick one of kang in or Simeone to play right wing. And David and Alvarez switch in the wings when needed. Just a thought.
4
u/AccomplishedWorld808 4d ago
ive been saying this, alvarez loves dropping deep and it always leaves a hole in the box, if simeone wants to play him so much then play him with david (not sorloth tho, please)
5
u/Prestigious_Bug_4169 4d ago
Maybe we will get a chance this weekend. Looks like cholito might need some rest after the knock so we will see if Simeone goes for it. David seems to be pretty good with link up play so it actually might work. As for Sorloth, I agree the lack of match time is concerning so unless we are winning by a good margin I would prefer not putting him on.
28
u/Cholismo2pt0 Llorente 4d ago
Mid performance, good win for momentum, before an away trip to Espanyol. Who we haven’t beat since 2021. Another challenge we’ll have to overcome this season
This was a good start, if we can continue winning against Espanyol, Stuttgart, Depor, & Levante. Maybe we’ve got a shot against Bayern and Barca.
7
6
24
u/Maximum-Ad832 4d ago
I feel like this game would have been different if David started , I hope Alvarez starting regardless of form isn’t a thing, hope Cholo learns from this
10
u/vsoho Giuliano Simeone 4d ago
Look we won so I’m happy with the game not being different but we for sure would’ve been better off with David. I rate playing Alvarez at this timing from Cholo to try and draw out some form from him, especially considering how good he was in the UCL last campaign. He certainly won’t be regularly starting like this in my opinion.
6
u/No_Zookeepergame347 Lookman/Vargas 4d ago
If he turns out to be like Fernando Torres in Chelsea....
4
u/ThomWaits88 4d ago
Torres at least won the champions league and the europa league at chelsea and he scored crucial goals.
30
u/mongomango27 4d ago
A decent-ish win from us. Made ManU look a bit better than they actually are. They had some good chances to score and if they didn't shit the bed (or Oblak didn't save us), we could've drawn or even lost that game. Either way it's good to get the first points in CL and at the end of the day, winning is what matters.
Quick summaries on players:
Oblak - Great. Was a wall today. Shows that he still has it, even after a "rough" previous season.
Llorente - Great. Was everywhere and once he moved to midfield, he became our offensive engine.
Romero - Good. Had some fuckups in the 1st half but saved our ass multiple times as well.
Hancko - Good. Just a solid performance overall.
Grimaldo - Good. Was part of many attacks, defended ok, though got skinned a few times.
Giuliano - Decent. Didn't do anything flashy but was decent.
Barrios - MOTM. Played like Iniesta out there. Please stay healthy 🙏
Cardoso - Great. Another great performance from him, will be tough to drop him now. Please stay healthy 🙏
Baena - Great. Full of confidence and it shows. Man was doing rabonna touches. Our creative engine. Hopefully he keeps up this form.
Alvarez - Eh. Was a bit unlucky and you can see his confidence is at rock bottom. Many shit passes and some questionable decision making. When he plays, we truly are without a striker, as he runs around in midfield. I guess he helps us on the defensive side, if nothing else?
KIL - Good. Another good performance from KIL. Love his dribbling and his energy has been great.
SUBS:
Hjulmand - Good. Solid performance.
Pubill - Good. Solid performance.
Lookman - Good. Scored an important goal, made a couple of good passes. Still can't seem to dribble past players but hopefully the goal brings him some confidence.
David - Good. Got us the man advantage. Solid linkup passes.
RLN - WHERE THE FUCK IS DOMINGUEZ??? On a serious note though, his form saddens me, yellow card the second he came on, otherwise was ok-ish but i still think Dominguez should get on the field before him.
15
u/grip0matic Luis Aragonés: "no pise usted ese escudo" 4d ago
Le Normand has not been normal since he hit his head. There is an before and after when that happened and he has never been the same.
We have our starting XI and a few players. Without Barrios healthy we do suffer A LOT, the kid dictates the tempo with such an ease that feels weird. I do like that we have a 9 that when he starts knows what to do and when he comes in knows exactly what to do, JD seems great so far. Lookman feels like he just needs to believe in himself. This team could greatly benefit from that stupid Alvarez doing crazy shit like when he arrived... he may be still dreaming, what a fucking dumbass.
Happy to see that Cardoso bet on get surgery even when that meant to miss the WC paid off. And very happy with Baena finally finding his appendix, he lost all his form with that, and the WC did wonders for him and his confidence.
I said it time ago, this team has very good foundations. It's basically a new team so this season is still reconstruction by the two wasted years of Bucero, but what we have now feels like something, it's not polished, we had that issue with Alvarez, but it feels like there is something serious. Compare that with what was having Waluigi Ruggeri, Raspadori, Donkey Molina, etc... and a many players just not fitting in and this actually feels like Alemany gave some good tools to Simeone.
23
u/Post_Nut_xG H🅰️nck🅾️ 4d ago
Julian was fine today, he played hard and missed a really difficult chance, but David is just better right now.
I love what Cholo is doing to the team though, maintaining possession and keeping on attacking the entire game. This is the most possession-heavy atleti I've ever seen.
Barrios, Cardoso, KIL, and Baena were all excellent today. I don't think anyone except RLN had a bad game. All I wanted from him was "don't make the same mistake you always make" and less than 2 seconds in BAM! Classic RLN 🤣
1
3
u/MrUnknownFrog 4d ago
i feel sad this couple of years will be what people remember Le Normand for when he was so good before his (literal) brain injury. Has never been the same and it wasn’t even his fault.
7
u/Foreign_Cockroach888 4d ago
Who gave the pass to David who got fouled and then red card?
17
u/jamcarti 4d ago
Holjmund if im not mistaken
11
u/ThomWaits88 4d ago
It was him. It was an amazing pass. I like how hjulmand already has a pass in his mind before getting the ball. He's very good.
11
u/tsjeldonkooper 4d ago
It’s crazy how barrios and cardoso were amazing then you sub in hjulmand who was so good and then ontop of that you got Koke too not to mention llorente effortlessly slotting into midfield
6
u/ThomWaits88 4d ago
We finally have a complete midfield. Hopefully, cardoso and barrios can stay healthy.
17
30
u/AtleticoFan17 Pablo Barrios 4d ago
Good result, but a mid performance imo. This Manchester United team is horrible. I’m surprised we didn’t absolutely trash them 4-0.
The only thing worth noting is how fucking brilliant Barrios is. He comes off and we don’t have any penetration from the middle of the park. Grimaldo got gassed around the 75th minute and we have no substitute for him which is starting to scare me. The system is beginning to revolve around Grimaldo, Cardoso, David, and Hancko. Take those players away and we don’t really have any idea.
36
u/ThomWaits88 4d ago
For me cardoso was the best player on the pitch. He's just brilliant. Oblak was amazing too. Well deserved victory. David definitely needs to start on the weekend. He just fits with our current game plan.
6
12
2
10
u/memes4yall 4d ago
Again, I’m really happy for the win don’t get me wrong but I still feel the team is lacking stability
And there’s this element of randomness that we come into every game with a new lineup and formation
And I still hate having to give up possession and then letting our defense having a brainfart moment
I’m hoping we start playing more assertively as time moves on coz I’ve already noticed massive improvement from most of the players over time
3
u/OkArtichokeJuice 4d ago
I wouldn’t call the lineups random. I think we have so much talent that we’re finally able to rotate and keep some legs fresh. It’s such an advantage to be able to rotate and not have the team form dip. You can’t do it all the time but to have the option is huge.
7
u/No_Zookeepergame347 Lookman/Vargas 4d ago
Higher expectations - mid result, for me it was actually. On the blank we should've destroy them 5 0. But it is what it is.
3
13
u/zitojunior Lemar 4d ago
David has pure 9 instincts, thought if started maybe he could have scored a second goal before 2nd half.
Barrios and Johny are ballers.
Grimaldo is becoming a legend, what a baller.
This team can achieve more this season just hope luck is on our side.
6
u/Ok-Time9345 4d ago
Considering we played with no number 9 for 65', its a great result.
Barrios MOTM and i agree, played very well for us, even without a goal would of been high rated, Cardoso, holy defensive presence from him, Baena, on fire, great passes, just good over all.
Kang Lee played very well, pressed in the midfield can intercepted well. Hjulmand, great pass for the JD run, red card. Hjulmand pressed good too
Honeslty i dont want to write all i think i wanna go to sleep, but every one (expect Alvarez and Le Normand) played very well, Iceman as starter now for sure, the trail of regaining trust of the fans is over for Alvarez
good night people or whatever time you have out there!
3
4
12
u/MustHaveMyTools 4d ago
Cardoso was incredible. He reads the game really well for such a young player.
7
u/SAULucion Vicente Calderón 4d ago
Back to back major performances. Putting in some fuckign shifts
1
7
7
1
9
u/joaolouro1967 Griezmann 4d ago
Besides Griezmann, I have never been so in love with a player as I am with Barrios. Fix your legs please, I need you in my life
11
8
u/Adventurous-Pea3679 4d ago
Bro Brugge beat inter, Vikings draws Bayern, lucky day for us as Favourites !
2
u/SuitableRelease4323 Lord Godin 4d ago
Coulda had tres, but we got Sorloth
2
u/Unable-Creme-7276 4d ago
I think if Sorloth weren’t injured for forever it seemed, Juventus would’ve bought him and we could’ve put in an offer for him… what a f’ing baller.
20
16
u/tsjeldonkooper 4d ago
This squad is very strong
Everyone on the team is fighting for eachother
The midfield has such a high level, everyone is delivering.
Romero came into an already strong defense and made it even stronger
And then to have such a plethora of options on the bench is a blessing.
To start with Alvarez and Kang, sub them for David and Lookman and you still have sorloth on the bench for the heading and long ball.
Great stuff from Atleti
21
u/Perceval_009 Pubill 4d ago
Played a completely mediocre game and still came away with a relatively easy win. Just how tragic is this Man U team
2
14
u/truePewDiePiefan Wall of pubill 4d ago
Wanted more but good overall and barrios is pure magic. Utd are shit
29
u/memes4yall 4d ago
Cardoso has looked amazing these games, he’s the one providing defense cover for Grimaldo allowing him to highlight his offensive capabilities
5
u/Unable-Creme-7276 3d ago
After re-watching it seems like with Prem teams we tend to spam counters and quick breaks, which is fine but it is sadly our only tactic.
Those sides are colossal compared to our team, and we get easily outmatched physically, losing headers and blocked hopelessly.
Against Liverpool we couldn’t get the ball off of Szobo (granted I think there was a foul in the build-up) and we conceded too easily.
Also some of the passes were too risky and close for comfort. The against the right team (Bayern for example loves to punish bad play) we would’ve conceded 3.