Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick hails his substitutes for changing the game vs Atletico Madrid

Speaking after his side’s 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Round of 16 tie in the Champions League (h/t Manchester Evening News), Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick highlighted how his substitutes helped turn the tide in United’s favour in the second half.

The Red Devils conceded early in the first half through a stunning Joao Felix header, as the Manchester club was run ragged by Atletico who pressed and kept sending waves of attacks down the United end. An Anthony Elanga finish in the second period ensured that the club came away with a draw in the end.

Rangnick spoke about the problems his players had in a poor first-half showing and said it was down to the team not playing enough passes into dangerous areas in Atletico’s half to hurt the opponents.

“We didn’t play the ball vertically, we didn’t play into the important, dangerous areas and this made it very easy for them to keep a clean sheet in the first-half.”

A second leg against the La Liga champions awaits at Old Trafford in under three weeks, and the German will hope that his players learn from their mistakes and put in a more all-round performance at home to progress to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Substitutes changed the game

In United’s previous game against Leeds United in the Premier League, it took inspired second-half substitutions from the Red Devils to help them win the game as Fred and Elanga were sent on against the Peacocks to snatch an away victory at Elland Road, and the super subs did exactly that.

Last night, the same story repeated itself as Rangnick made 5 substitutions in the second period of the game to gain more control and possession, which eventually led to his side’s equaliser. The German said his side got better with each substitution made in the match.

“Those things went better after we made the first substitutions and with every substitution, we had not more control of the game but we were in the game, we were winning second balls, we were winning balls in midfield and we had our moments up front.”

Elanga turned hero again for United, as the teenager showed great composure to finish past Jan Oblak after being put through one on one against the keeper from a perfectly weighted through ball from Bruno Fernandes. It’s a shame that the away goal rule is now discarded, otherwise this goal would have carried with it added importance.

The Swede has now scored twice in as many games for the club as he keeps justifying Rangnick’s faith in him. The academy product has been a bright spark for the club this season, and we can hope he continues his run until the end of the campaign.

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Rangnick will be concerned about how his team fared in the first half of last night’s game, as their opponents were better than them in every department. The return leg of the tie will need to see a much better performance from the Red Devils to settle the fixture once and for all.

Although it took 5 substitutions from the interim boss to get United back in control of the game, it was pleasing to see the team react positively to going down and fighting hard for an equaliser. There’s all to play for next month, and Manchester will be buzzing for a home victory on a special UCL night.