Manchester against Atlético, but also a duel between two Portuguese marksmen. Who will be more successful?

Manchester United and Atlético Madrid face each other in the Champions League rematch and both teams have one thing in common. They will be relying on their Portuguese marksmen to fire them through to the quarter-finals.

Manchester United are relying on Cristiano Ronaldo, who needs little introduction. Considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time, the top scorer in history and the Champions League.

João Felix, on the Atlético side, has almost his entire career ahead of him. the 22-year-old striker helped drag the Colchoneros to the title last year, but at the start of this season he remained more on the bench. Diego Simeone has relied more on Angel Correa, Luis Suárez, Antoine Griezmann and Matheus Cunha.

But recently Felix has worked his way into the starting lineup and Atlético’s two top scorers Correa (11) and Suárez (9) have been coming off the bench.

And the Portuguese youngster is repaying Simeone’s trust handsomely. He has scored five times and added one assist in the last five games. He scored against Osasuna, Manchester United, twice against Betis and most recently against Cadiz at the weekend.

The big oddity is that four of Felix’s goals have come in the opening minutes. Against Osasuna he opened the scoring in the third minute, against Manchester United he scored in the seventh minute. Against Betis he made his mark in the second minute, and against Cadiz at the weekend he scored in the third minute.

Felix has had an excellent start to the game, so Maguire and co. will have to keep a close eye on him.

But that’s also true on the other side. Ronaldo enters the rematch in good spirits, having shot down Tottenham with a hat-trick at the weekend. Moreover, he has been doing well against Atlético for a long time, they are his favourite opponent.

At the same time, this could be seen as a clash of Portugal’s present and future. Although who knows how much longer Ronaldo will play.

Source: UEFA