Paul Pogba wants Man Utd to continue ‘beautiful reaction’ to derby defeat

Paul Pogba says Manchester United must continue their “beautiful reaction” to recent difficulties by building on the Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired win against Tottenham and sealing Champions League progress.

Last Sunday’s chastening 4-1 derby defeat at Manchester City was alarming in terms of performance as much as result, leading to questions about the group’s togetherness and spirit.

That loss damaged United’s hopes of making the top four, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick admitting they needed to win Saturday’s clash against Tottenham to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive.

The Red Devils did just that and hat-trick hero Ronaldo was the star in a 3-2 triumph under the Old Trafford floodlights – a performance that Pogba knows they must follow up against Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s last-16 second leg.

“Today was a beautiful win, beautiful reaction from all of us from the game at City,” Pogba told the PA news agency.

“We needed this win today against Tottenham, which is a team that are there next to us, and I think it give us a boost also for Tuesday. Now we’re just thinking about the next game, which is Champions League. We want to win this one and then we’ll think about the top four after.”

The clash with Atletico concludes what looked to be a potentially season-defining Old Trafford double-header – and Ronaldo would love to be the star yet again on Tuesday.