Nemanja Matic pinpoints where Man United vs Atletico Madrid will be won and lost

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic insists the result is all that matters ahead of tonight’s Champions League last-16 second-leg with Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford.

With the tie evenly poised at 1-1 after the first-leg in the Spanish capital last month, both sides will fancy their chances of progressing to the quarter-finals and joining the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City. United youngster Anthony Elanga netted a late equaliser to earn a share of the spoils when the sides met at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

UEFA scrapped the away-goals rule ahead of the start of this season, meaning that the winner of this evening’s contest will win the tie and advance. The Champions League is now United’s only hope of winning a trophy this season, highlighting how important the visit of Diego Simeone’s side is.

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With that in mind, Matic — who shone in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur — has highlighted how the result will be far more important than the performance. He has also outlined how it is down to the players to create an atmosphere for the supporters to spur them on.

“Atletico is a big game for us,” Matic told United’s club website. “We drew away, so we know that we have to win at home in front of our supporters.

“We know it’s not going to be easy. They defend well and they’re very compact as a team. We have to find a way to score goals.

“Am I expecting a great atmosphere? I hope, but to have an amazing atmosphere we need to obviously perform well on the pitch, then the supporters, for sure, will follow that.

“As I said, we will do everything to win. It doesn’t matter how we play, we need to score goals and win these kind of games. We need to be experienced enough. This part of the season is only about the results.”

Assessing the challenge Atletico will pose, he added: “They fight on the pitch and they’re always compact. The results in the last 10 years, you see how they win games 1-0, 2-1 and yes, it’s hard to play against them.

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“I’m sure if we put all our quality on the pitch that we will find a way to score goals because they also have a weakness, so we have to recognise that on the pitch and to use their weaknesses at any moment.”