Manchester United’s draw saved by a super talent, Benfica draw with Ajax

Two very interesting duels awaited us on Wednesday evening in the Champions League. Atlético Madrid welcomed Manchester United to their stadium, while Ajax Amsterdam took on Benfica Lisbon. In neither match did we know the winner.

There were high expectations for Atlético Madrid and Manchester United. Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Madrid and once again faced his favourite opponent, who has already scored 25 goals. But he will want to forget Wednesday night at the Wanda Metropolitano as soon as possible.

The Red Devils came into the game very poorly. They were nervous, lost unnecessary balls and Atlético punished them. As early as the seventh minute, Renan Lodi’s beautiful centre found João Felix in flight, who was not caught by Harry Maguire and the Colchoneros went ahead.

In the 34th minute, Renan Lodi came back again. After a pass from Herrera, his shot just missed the left post. But the Brazilian left-back played a great game, was very active and almost scored a second goal just before half-time.

After a cleverly played standard situation, his centre found Sime Vrsaljk at the back post, whose header only ended up on the bar. Manchester United came out for the second half with no changes to their line-up or their play. They continued to look toothless and failed to create any chances.

Youngster Anthony Elanga had to come on. In the 80th minute, he ran in behind the defence on a pass from Bruno Fernandes, and faced Oblak, he didn’t hesitate and equalised at 1-1.

In the 86th minute, Griezmann could have put the Colchoneros back in front. But his beautifully curled shot only ended up on the crossbar. Atlético deserved to win, at least for the first half, but one mistake meant a 1-1 draw.

Benfica Lisbon – Ajax Amsterdam

On paper, the less attractive match offered a very exciting spectacle. In the 18th minute, Dusan Tadic sent Ajax into the lead, sweeping in the right-hand post. Ajax scored a second goal very soon after, but into their own net. Vertonghen’s centre was knocked into his own net by striker Sebastien Haller.

But it was the top scorer of the current Champions League season who also scored into the right net. In the 29th minute, he headed a deflected ball into the net to score for the 11th time in this year’s millionaire competition.

But the drama continued. In the 72nd minute, Roman Yaremchuk found a deflected ball in the whitewash and with a header he equalised at 2:2. But no more goals were scored and the rematch was wide open.

Source: UEFA