Manchester United’s three worst players against Atletico Madrid

Bruno Fernandes had been ineffective all night and would have made this list if he hadn’t delivered Elanga with a defense-splitting assist. Everything has been forgiven.

United come away with a 1-1 tie to take back to Old Trafford, a respectable result given their performance.

We looked at United’s three greatest players on the night at full-time, and to balance that in the midst of a generally awful performance, here are United’s three worst players versus Atletico.

Rashford, Marcus
There aren’t many polite words to describe this. Marcus Rashford was a disaster. Every decision he made was incorrect, and several attacks failed when he received the ball.

Rashford was a liability in attack for United, not an asset. It’s difficult to identify what has gone wrong for him, but United is better off without him on the field.

Anthony Elanga is a more confident player and a better all-around player right now. Rashford completed only 71% of his passes and looked completely deflated when he walked off. Rashford starting the second leg would be a huge surprise.

Pogba, Paul
The player who was dominant against Leeds on Sunday was completely outclassed by Atletico. Pogba had no room to move as Atletico pressed him.

The Frenchman is more than capable and should have a greater impact in the second leg. It came as no surprise that he was substituted.

Pogba’s customary accuracy with the ball failed him this time, with only 76% of his passes completed. He lacked the toughness and fighting spirit of the Atletico players, who appeared to want it more than he did.

Shaw, Luke
Victor Lindelof, who plays right-back for United, was not expected to make any forward runs. They should have anticipated something from Luke Shaw going forward, but they didn’t.

Shaw was very shy and appeared to be overwhelmed by the event. He could have assisted Marcus Rashford if he had advanced and produced an outlet, but there was none.

When Alex Telles came in in the 66th minute, United looked better, and the Brazilian had a good chance of starting the second leg.