MADRID, 16 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Manchester United coach, Ralf Rangnick, lamented his team’s defeat this Tuesday against Atlético de Madrid (0-1) in the round of 16 of the ‘Champions League’ and criticized that the mattress players “always” wasted time with “someone lying on the ground” to press their advantage.
“I don’t think the match lasted more than three minutes in a row, it was always interrupted by someone lying on the ground. I think there were also some curious refereeing decisions. In the end I wouldn’t say they were decisive, but at least he fell into those tricks that were wasting time. The four added minutes were a joke for me”, snapped the coach.
“I think we played a very good first half, exactly how we wanted to play, with a high level of energy. But we couldn’t turn it into one or two goals. We had some good moments where we should have scored, but we didn’t.” Rangnick analyzed.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t convert that energy into one or two goals in the first half, which would have been very important, to score the first goal ourselves. And then we conceded that moment of transition shortly before the break and this didn’t make our lives. easier. I still think there was a foul on Anthony Elanga a little bit before that counter-attack moment, but the referee and linesman didn’t see it that way.”
“Honestly, our first half was very good, and it was difficult to find the rhythm again in the second half. In addition, we already knew that Atlético is very good at defending the advantages”, recalled Rangnick, who also warned in the press conference prior to the duel at Old Trafford.
On the opportunities of his team, the coach of the ‘red devils’ said that they could have changed their luck in the second half. “We had one or two moments in the second half and there was a brilliant save by the goalkeeper. We were fully aware that against this team you have to score the first goal (to have more options),” he said.
In other matters, Rangnick did not answer about his future. “My focus right now is to finish at the highest level possible with this team and then there is plenty of time to talk about other things,” United’s caretaker manager concluded.