Atlético Madrid vs. Manchester United: Preview and betting tips

Cristiano Ronaldo’s duels with Diego Simeone always promise a perfect spectacle. The Portuguese icon has already knocked Atlético out of the Champions League in the jersey of both Real Madrid and Juventus, now he will challenge them as a Manchester United employee.

Atlético are struggling, having lost two of their last four league games and are only fifth. It reached the Champions League play-offs from second place in the group of death, leaving Porto and AC Milan behind, while Liverpool went on from first place.

Manchester United overtook Villarreal, Atalanta and Young Boys Bern on their way to the eighth round. It’s not so glorious in the league, the Red Devils are a good fourth, but if Arsenal, Tottenham and Wolverhampton can manage their games to spare, Manchester could go as high as seventh.

On the home side, Luis Suarez is still firing it up, the Uruguayan international has netted eleven goals and assisted three through all competitions. Argentinian all-rounder Angel Correa had a hand in seventeen goals (12+5).

Cristiano Ronaldo continues to fire after his transfer from Juventus, scoring fifteen times and assisting three times in a red jersey so far. Jadon Sancho’s performance has been picking up since January, yet a 4+2 record is a very poor showing for the summer’s most expensive signing.

Atlético no longer boast Spain’s best defensive record, conceding sixteen goals in their last eight games across all competitions. And if it wasn’t for Jan Oblak, it could have been even worse.

That plays into the hands of Manchester City, who have netted a combined six goals in the last two rounds of the Premier League.

Considering the poor disposition of the home defence throughout the season, I don’t think Manchester will lose.