Old Trafford came alive on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals helped, three points and three goals against a decent side, a direct rival.
The atmosphere was good, it could have been better and when Ralf Rangnick said he needs another 10-15 per cent from his players in Tuesday’s Champions League game against Atletico Madrid, he could have been speaking about the fans, too.
In 2018, United drew a game at the same stage in Seville and the Spaniards came back to Old Trafford for a must-win second leg. As Seville took control but the tie stayed at 0-0, United froze, both the team and the fans. Sevilla scored twice. United, the team and the fans, woke up when it was too late. United went out of the competition.
Old Trafford is louder than it was in 2018, the Red Army section in the Stretford End works and J and K Stand still have their moments, but there can’t be a repeat of Seville on Tuesday. United fans need to raise their game as much as the team does. If Atletico, the in-form champions of Spain, can quieten the home fans then it’ll help them.
Their Argentinian manager Diego Simeone, from a country where the atmosphere for an average league game makes most Premier League stadiums seem like a library, knows the value of fan support. Atletico’s were very loud in the home game against United, a game they feel they deserved far more than a draw from. They’re vengeful.
“I was impressed with the number of United fans in Madrid,” one Madrid based journalist told me last week of the 3,300 Reds in Spain. “But they were pretty quiet until the equaliser, then they didn’t stop singing.”
Again, United fans need to get in front of the team rather than waiting for the team to do something. Real Madrid made fans a priority last week before their game against PSG.
It’s not like them, but they realised they needed everything to overcome a side who had Mbappe, Neymar and Messi up front. The players went to their fans after they’d beaten Real Sociedad in the previous game, then went back out to them from the dressing room.
Every Madrid player talked up the importance of the fans before the match. And the crowd responded. They could have been louder and PSG’s fans were better. The Parisians did not stop, even when their team faltered and the Bernabeu really came alive.
But Real Madrid are a better side than Manchester United and they’re better than Atletico. United need every drop of support from the 70,000 who’ll be inside Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Support for an average, rather than a vintage side. Support that builds before the game – from fans who are not making a noise in the pub but in the stadium.
Manchester United 3 Tottenham Hotspur 2 – player ratings
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MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea 6 Dived the right way for Kane’s penalty, but it was a perfect penalty. Wasn’t expecting Maguire to put the ball past him for Spurs’ second. EPA -
Diogo Dalot 6 Headed a 26th minute Dier header off the line. Bad challenge on Reguilon on 73, for which he held his hands up. Reuters -
Harry Maguire 5 Performed better than last week and involved in an open, thrilling, game. Then he scored an own goal and had Romero screaming in his face in celebration for his troubles. Lad needs a break. EPA -
Raphael Varane 7 Started the build up for the opening goal. United’s defence is better with the Frenchman in it. And three important points against a direct rival lifted the move ahead of Tuesday’s key Champions League game against Atletico. Getty -
Alex Telles 7 High cross for Ronaldo after 21. Handled the ball to concede Kane’s penalty. Costly error. Hits a decent free-kick/cross and his corner set up Ronaldo for the winner. Getty -
Nemanja Matic 7 Lost possession to Hojberg, who shot after 17. Read the line right when Spurs did put the ball in the next a minute after. Superb block to stop a dangerous attack on 29. His looping ball to Sancho would lead to United’s second. EPA -
Fred 8 Flicked the ball to set up Ronaldo’s opener, then blocked a Son strike five minutes later before immediately setting up Pogba to shoot. Another key tackle on 41. Good first half. Booked. Fine counter attack at 2-2, fine game. Reuters -
Paul Pogba 6 Shot wide as United surged forward again after 16 minutes. Lost the ball and gave a free kick to Spurs soon after. Played centrally in an area where Spurs had more possession…and helped them in their cause more than he’d have liked but while ponderous, could also play a pass to split their defence. Booked. Getty -
Marcus Rashford 5 First start in a month, but he had a quiet first half. More involved in the second and hit a cross towards Pogba, but no real threat. First player to come off. Getty -
Jadon Sancho 7 Beaten by Kulusevski in the run up to Spurs penalty. Stayed onside to set up Ronaldo for United’s second. Cut inside to shoot on 43. Busy. Lost the ball to set up a Spurs attack on 61. Beaten down the right too many times, but still doing well. Getty -
Cristiano Ronaldo 10 Scooped a sixth minute shot over. Then hit a magnificent curling shot past Lloris on 12. Met a Sancho cross to score United’s second on 38. Strike on target from distance on 66, then headed – magnificently – the winner on 82. Old Trafford came alive in song. 807 career goals to become football’s top goalscorer. Of all time. Getty -
SUBS: Anthony Elanga On for Rashford on 67. More valuable minutes. EPA -
Edinson Cavani On to a roar for Matic after 79. A brave move, but one which quickly paid off as United retook the lead. Getty -
Victor Lindelof 5 As Old Trafford roared ‘Viva Ronaldo’, the Swede replaced him on 83 minutes. AP -
TOTTENHAM RATINGS: Hugo Lloris – 7 The Frenchman had no chance of keeping out Ronaldo’s terrific strike from outside the box in the opening minutes, but he was twice forced to push away the Portuguese striker’s effort for a hat-trick in the second half. Didn’t have much luck with any of the goals. EPA -
Cristian Romero – 5 The Atalanta loanee would have been flagged for offside if he had found Reguilon’s cross, but he’d distracted Maguire just enough to force the United man to convert into his own net for Spurs’ equaliser. Lost his man as Ronaldo climbed highest to claim his hat-trick. Getty -
Eric Dier – 6 The centre-back was in the centre of a handball claim in the opening minutes, which VAR denied, but he gave Ronaldo too much space and backed off just after. He nearly got his team level before the half-hour mark, forcing a goal-line clearance from Dalot. Booked. Getty -
Ben Davies – 6 The Welshman might have thought he’d scored his first goal of the season when he linked up with Reguilon and Son on the left flank, only to see the linesman raise his flag for offside. AP -
Matt Doherty – 6 The former Wolves man was caught ball watching and left Sancho to sprint free to play in Ronaldo before United’s second, before he misjudged Ronaldo for his hat-trick goal. Getty -
Rodrigo Bentancur – 6 The former Juventus man looks to be Conte’s first choice in a pairing with Hojbjerg in the centre of midfield. He managed some neat passes, though couldn’t dominate. Saw a first-half shot blocked by Maguire. PA -
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – 7 The Denmark international was busy in midfield, finding several excellent passes and did well to win the ball from Matic in response to United finding their opener, though his resulting shot was weak and straight at De Gea. EPA -
Sergio Reguilon – 6 The Spaniard was the only change for Antonio Conte with Ryan Sessegnon sidelined. He appealed for offside in the build-up to Ronaldo’s second, only to find out he was the player keeping Sancho onside. He was later played in by Son, with his resulting cross seeing Maguire find the back of his own net. Booked for a high foot. Reuters -
Dejan Kulusevski – 7 The Juventus loanee collected Dier’s blocked free-kick before swiftly bypassing Sancho on the wing and winning a penalty when his cross hit Alex Telles’ arm. Continues to be an excellent addition. EPA -
Heung-Min Son – 5 After trying to make something happen for much of the first half to no avail, the Korean had the perfect opportunity to put his side level, but he was unable to adjust and saw his effort go narrowly wide of the post. EPA -
Harry Kane – 6 The English forward netted his sixth in five games when he stepped up to the spot and had enough power to squeeze past De Gea, who had guessed the right way. EPA -
SUBS: Lucas Moura (Kulusevski 78’) – N/R Attempted a few dribbles but did very little to make an impact. EPA -
Harry Winks (Bentancur 88’) – N/R The late substitute lofted a lovely ball into the box for Reguilon in the closing stages. EPA -
Steven Bergwijn (Davies 88’) – N/R A late change for Spurs as Conte pushed for a third equalising goal to no avail. Getty
In 2017, Ajax fans filled their sections in Stockholm 90 minutes before the game when the United sections were three-quarters empty and only filled for kick-off.
It should be support that doesn’t start moaning after five minutes or doesn’t go quiet after five minutes as it did against Monaco in 1998 when Monaco scored. Support like the team had when Barcelona visited in 1984 and 2008.
“The fans kept us going, they never stopped, they kept us motivated and kept the adrenalin going,” said Bryan Robson when I asked him about the 1984 game recently.
“The pitch felt like it was shaking. It was the biggest crowd of the season, 58,000. Some fans climbed the floodlight pylons to see the game.”
Robson is regularly asked about that game 38 years later. Barcelona’s players say it was the loudest atmosphere they ever encountered. They paid begrudging nods to the M16 noise in 2008, too.
Atletico have Simeone, who earned David Beckham a red card in France 1998. They have Luis Suarez. They ended United’s run as the Cup Winners’ Cup holders in 1991 in the two teams’ only previous meeting.
They’d love nothing more than to knock their nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo out of Europe, the man who stopped them winning not one but two Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016 when he scored the final Real Madrid goals.
Are United’s fans going to let them off lightly? They need to make some noise.
