Man Utd boss Ralf Rangnick calls refereeing decisions ‘a joke’ after Atletico Madrid loss

Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick was dissatisfied with a number of refereeing decisions as his team was eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid. After Anthony Elanga scored a late equalizer against Atletico Madrid in the first leg, United had given themselves a fighting chance going into the second leg.

The mood at Old Trafford was similarly upbeat following Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick at the weekend. But they were mediocre at best from the start, with Atletico showing more forward intent.

Earlier in the first half, Joao Felix had the ball in the back of the net, but the offside flag saved United’s blushes. With United’s defense being all over the place at times, it was only a matter of time before Atletico found a way through.

Renan Lodi scored the game’s first goal after being in acres of space at the back post, giving Atletico the lead heading into the half. United showed more finesse in the second half but lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

Cristiano Ronaldo was unusually quiet, and Bruno Fernandes was pulled out with 23 minutes remaining to make way for Paul Pogba. United pushed and puffed for an equalizer but failed to put Jan Oblak to the test too often.

The referee also garnered a lot of ire from the home crowd for some of his choices throughout the game.

Some United players accused Atletico players of feigning injuries and wasting time in order to break up United’s offensive whenever feasible. However, only four minutes were added for stoppage time, which Rangnick called a “joke.”

“I thought we played a really strong first half – precisely how we wanted to play with a high energy level – but we couldn’t translate that into one or two goals,” Rangnick remarked.

“We had a few decent opportunities to score, but we didn’t.” It didn’t help matters that a counter-attacking goal was scored just before halftime.

“It was difficult in the second half and often interrupted.” Someone was always lying on the floor. I’d also mention some odd refereeing choices. I wouldn’t say they were decisive, but he fell too frequently for such time-wasting antics, and the four minutes at the end were a comedy for me.”