Manchester United's dismal start to the season continued on Tuesday night as they were beaten 3-0 by Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano. The defeat extends United's winless run to five games, with the club having won just two of their opening nine matches of the campaign.
The vast majority of the 3,750 travelling fans had already left the stadium by the final whistle, heading for taxis and trains back into the city centre after watching their team fall behind early and never recover.
Early setback and missed chances
United were behind after just 53 seconds when two straight passes sliced them open. Diogo Dalot was the wrong side of Alex Baena, who raced clear from the halfway line and picked out Pablo Barrios to fire home via an attempted block from Ayden Heaven.
Michael Carrick's side responded well after the early setback, with Youri Tielemans twice picking out Bryan Mbeumo after incisive moves, but on both occasions Mbeumo was denied by Jan Oblak. Tielemans also produced a superb ball over the top for Bruno Fernandes, but the off-colour captain looped his shot over the advancing Oblak and agonisingly wide of the post.
Controversial red card
United felt Leny Yoro was harshly sent off after being shown a red card for hauling down Jonathan David, with referee Glenn Nyberg sent to the screen. Having failed to beat 10 men twice recently, United were never going to rally themselves once they were reduced to 10 men themselves.
Atletico delivered a lesson in killing a game off with a man advantage, with Ademola Lookman sweeping home after Senne Lammens had saved from David. That was the cue for United fans to beat the rush for the exits.
Pressure building on Carrick
Sir Jim Ratcliffe watched on in Madrid as Carrick made brave selection calls, handing Ayden Heaven his first start at left-back since November 2024 and bringing Andrey Santos in from the cold to form a new-look midfield with Carlos Baleba. Carrick had cited Diego Simeone's reign in Madrid as an example of someone who rewarded patience, but he will know he has to stop the rot quickly.
United now face a tricky trip across the Pennines to face Leeds this weekend, with the pressure building on Carrick after five games without a victory.
