Man United frustrates Atlético... and Ajax beat Benfica

The second leg of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Atletico Madrid on the one hand, and Ajax Amsterdam and Benfica on the other hand, will be wide open after the 1-1 and 2-2 draw in Spain and Portugal, respectively, yesterday.

With the absence of the goals scored outside the home base, the matches of the fifteenth of next March in Manchester and Amsterdam will be open to all possibilities.

At the “Wanda Metropolitano” stadium in Madrid, Atletico scored early through young Portuguese Joao Felix in the seventh minute and seemed to be on his way to winning a match in which he was the better party, but the Swedish substitute Anthony Ilanga gave United an expensive equalizer ten minutes before the end ( 80).

The confrontation brought together two parties who suffer locally this season, especially in their quest to reserve a seat in the supreme continental competition next season, as they face fierce competition in the two local leagues.

This was only the third confrontation that brought the two European teams together, and the first in 30 years, when they met in the 1991-1992 season in the second round of the European Cup Winners' Cup, which was merged with the European Union Cup to become the European League "European League" now, and the victory was for the Spanish team (3- 0 and 1-1).

"Give back to my coach"

"I think it was my first touch (to the ball). I dreamed of moments like this, to score in the Champions League against a big team like Atletico Madrid. Whenever I get a chance with the club I want to give back to my coach," said Ilanga, who scored the equalizer after the match.

And the player, who became United's youngest scorer in the knockout rounds (19 years and 302 days), added, "We didn't do the best in the first half, but with the substitutions in the second half, we rose a little bit. He (the coach) told me to scare the defenders and take advantage of the opportunity that came before me."

Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo returned to face a team he knows well during the nine years he spent at Real Madrid and scored seven times in European competitions and 25 times in 35 matches in all competitions, including 2 hat-tricks in the Champions League playoffs (one of which was when he was with Juventus).

This was the first confrontation that United coach Ralf Rangnick faced in the Champions League knockout rounds since he lost to the "Red Devils" in particular 1-6 in the total of the two semi-final matches of the 2010-2011 season when he was coach of Schalke.

In the second confrontation in the final price between two teams crowned with the continental title, after the one that brought together Liverpool and Inter, Benfica and Ajax presented an open and exciting match in which the Dutch guest advanced twice, but the owner of the land did not give up and kept the door to qualifying for the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2015-2016 season Open, especially with the abolition of the rule of preference for goals scored away from home.

Benfica, the 1961 and 1962 champions, owed their avoidance to Ukrainian substitute Roman Yarmychuk, who equalized in the 72nd minute of a match during which Ajax top scorer Sebastian Haller scored his eleventh goal in the competition this season, as he was the equalizer for Benfica by mistake in his own net.

The two teams had previously faced each other in the competition, the first time in the quarter-finals in 1969, and they exchanged wins 3-1 back and forth, and the decision was made in a third match that ended in favor of the Dutch team with three clean points after the extension.

At that time, Ajax reached the final, losing to AC Milan 1-4.

The date was renewed, including in the semi-finals of the 1971-1972 season, and Ajax won 1 - zero in the first leg and a 0-0 draw back on its way to the second title in a row in its history when it beat Inter Milan 2-0 in the final.

The two teams met for the third time in the 2018-2019 season, and it was in the group stage. Once again, Ajax won 1-0 in the first leg and drew 1-1 in the back, on its way led by Matthijs de Ligt and Francke de Jong to the semi-finals, which he was bid farewell to by Tottenham Hotspur.

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