Player Ratings: Atalanta 2-2 Manchester United

Atalanta 2-2 Manchester United | Champions League

A Cristiano Ronaldo brace earns Manchester United a vital point in Bergamo. Mario Pasalic’s goal gave Atalanta an early lead before United’s stars took it upon themselves to create a beautiful team goal. Mason Greenwood, Bruno Fernandes, and Ronaldo himself all linked up for the Champions League’s all-time goal scorer to get another with some speedy interplay and a nonchalant assist from Fernandes. 

Duvan Zapata put the game back into the Italian side’s hands with a run in-behind that was met with a great pass which he slotted past David de Gea unmarked. United then huffed and puffed, Solskjaer brought on Donny van de Beek and Jadon Sancho who provided the spark for United to get the equaliser. Ronaldo found himself on the edge of the box hammering home a volley earning his side a point in the dying moments, as he does. 

David De Gea: 5 

A rare poor performance from De Gea considering his form. The Spaniard should have done better with the first goal, and his work on the ball was of a poor standard 

Defence

Luke Shaw: 5 

The left-back had very little impact going forward and was fairly non-existent in a defensive sense.  

Raphael Varane: 6 

Varane played very well, looking strong and solid at the back for United. However, an unfortunate injury forced the French international off during the first half. After this, United’s defensive unit became extremely disjointed. 

Harry Maguire: 3  

As captain of Manchester United, Maguire is failing to take his responsibility in successfully leading the team at the moment. Today was another example of this. He was at fault for Atalanta’s second goal, and in addition to this, he was enormously weak throughout the game- losing the ball and being easily out-muscled on several occasions. 

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Eric Bailly: 9 

Bailly was fantastic today – a real stand-out player for United. He provided several vital interceptions, and was ferocious in his defensive duties, putting everything on the line. United could do with more of this kind of mentality throughout the ranks of the whole squad. 

Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 6 

Wan-Bissaka had a decent game. His performance going forward was impressive, his attacking play has clearly improved this season. 

Midfield

Scott McTominay: 6 

Before being substituted off, McTominay’s tenacity was there for all to see. The Scottish international could however have done more to control proceedings in the middle of the park. 

Paul Pogba: 4 

This was a very uncharacteristic display from Pogba. The number of misplaced passes from Pogba was unrecognisable. Hopefully, he can pick up his performances in the coming games, he will need to if United are to return to a decent run of form. 

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Bruno Fernandes: 7 

Bruno provided an excellent back-heeled assist for Ronaldo today. Other than this, his impact was limited. On the other hand, his contribution aided Manchester United massively today in scavenging a point. 

Attack

Marcus Rashford: 5 

Marcus Rashford was unable to have any genuine influence within this game. Perhaps down to how Atalanta were set up and structured in defending against United and mitigating the majority of their attacking threats. 

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Cristiano Ronaldo: 10 

Ronaldo carried United today. He scored two superb goals! Notably, his second goal deserves a particular mention- a scorching volleyed strike from outside the area to save United in stoppage time. At 36, this is why Cristiano should be considered the greatest player of all time. 

Substitutes 

Mason Greenwood: 7 

Greenwood looked lively. He provided a good assist for Ronaldo’s second goal and executed some fine long-balls and switches of play throughout the game. 

Nemanja Matic: 5  

Matic made no significant impact upon coming on, albeit he had little time to do so. 

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Jadon Sancho: 6  

Sancho has very little time to work his magic. However, he did look positive upon coming on by attempting a few of his signature, dazzling runs at the opposition defence.

Donny Van De Beek: 6 

Much like Sancho, Donny was only on the pitch for around ten minutes. Within this time, he was competitive and tidy, whilst also coming close to scoring at the very end of the game.

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