Atlético 2-0 Man Utd: 53 seconds, then the same story

Carrick spent Monday telling anyone who'd listen that a reaction was coming. It lasted 53 seconds.

Pablo Barrios scored before most of the away end had found their seats, Leny Yoro was sent off with 16 minutes left, and Ademola Lookman finished it. Atlético Madrid 2, United 0. It could have been worse, and on another night it might have been closer, but nobody who watched it came away thinking United deserved anything.

The goal that set the tone

Replay the opener and you'll see the whole night in ten seconds. Lee Kang-in found Álex Baena in acres of space down United's left. Nobody went to him as he drove into the box. On the other side, Barrios was running through completely alone. Baena squared it, the shot clipped Ayden Heaven, and in it went.

Sid Lowe, reporting for the Guardian, put it bluntly: on the left, in the middle and on the right, "no one was really there".

Barrios held up six fingers for his captain Koke, whose mother had died hours before kick-off. The place went up. From there, Atlético never really looked like losing.

United had chances. That's the frustrating part

This wasn't a total wipeout. Bryan Mbeumo had two clear sights of goal in the first half. The first went wide after some lovely footwork on the right; the second, after a one-two with Youri Tielemans, was saved by Jan Oblak. Carlos Baleba headed the resulting corner straight at him.

Bruno Fernandes had the best chance of the lot early in the second half. Tielemans found him, the ball sat up, Oblak came charging, and our captain lifted it past the keeper and wide. Later he hit the bar.

Score one of those and it's a different game. Score none and you get what we got.

Atlético could have had four

Atlético had 66% of the ball by half-time, per the Guardian. Álex Grimaldo smacked a free-kick off the bar, Johnny Cardoso had a goal ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up, and Julián Álvarez volleyed against a post just after the restart.

United's pressing, when it came, came late. Diego Simeone spent the night prowling his technical area and got himself booked. Carrick stood in the corner of his with his chin in his hand. Lowe's line on that one stung: "Maybe United's manager could try that. Something, anyway."

The red card

On 74 minutes Jonathan David ran through on to a Morten Hjulmand pass, Yoro grappled with him, and both went down. The referee waved play on, then VAR sent him to the monitor and he came back with a red card. Sky Sports had it as denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Our view: it was harsh. The Guardian thought so too. It didn't change the fact that we were already losing.

Three minutes later Grimaldo slipped David in, Senne Lammens saved, and Lookman tapped in the rebound. Heaven and Fernandes came off. Game over.

What it tells us

Two things. First, United aren't creating nothing. Mbeumo and Fernandes had chances that good teams bury.

Second, and more worrying, the defending without the ball was flimsy all night. Leaving three Atlético players free for the first goal isn't bad luck, it's structure. That's on the coaching as much as the players, and Carrick knows it.

Then Martínez opened his mouth in the mixed zone, and the result became the second-biggest story of the night.

Verdict

A Champions League defeat away at Atlético isn't a disaster on its own. Doing it like this, five days after throwing away a win against ten-man Spurs, is the problem.

Leeds away is next. If United start like this at Elland Road, it'll be over by half-time.