There was a moment just before half-time at Wanda Metropolitano when Cristiano Ronaldo stood on the penalty spot, delivered a shrug of the shoulders, pulled a face and raised a finger. None of his Manchester United teammates were really looking his way and even if they had been, there was little they could do about it, and so he walked slowly back out of the area, shaking his head, alone. It was a journey he would embark upon often.
All the way to the end, in fact, when he was the first player off, throwing back his arm in frustration, born perhaps not just of this night but other nights too, an uncomfortably familiar feeling of impotence, a hint of recrimination there too. Pausing to applaud the fans in the north stand, Ronaldo crossed the pitch and turned up the tunnel on his own. United had found a way through, Anthony Elanga slipping past Jan Oblak with 10 minutes to go, but the one he wanted never came on his return to the city where he won it all.
Related: Anthony Elanga punishes Atlético with late equaliser for Manchester United
At least defeat was not delivered either, he and his team handed the chance to fight another day. As he had walked away from the penalty spot, Ronaldo had watched Atlético escape up the left, Renan Lodi delivering another superb ball across the Manchester United box. At the far post, Sime Vrsaljko headed it off the face of Victor Lindelöf and it bounced down and up off the bar. It was almost comical, and they had got away with it. It was becoming that kind of game.
Ronaldo was the last one off at the break. He was having words with the referee then and would surely be having words with his teammates next. Atlético led by a goal, and for United that was the good news. It wasn’t so much
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