Atletico Madrid crank up pressure on Carrick
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes attempts a shot on goal. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.
Michael Carrick confessed to former team-mate Nicky Butt that he isn't cut out for management before taking one of the biggest jobs in the game. Another chastening defeat for Manchester United suggested he might be right.
Goals by Pablo Barrios and substitute Ademola Lookman cranked up the pressure on Carrick on an evening when United had to play the last 16 minutes with 10 men following Leny Yoro's harsh red card.
Butt revealed on his weekly podcast that Carrick told him earlier this year that only an offer he couldn't refuse would tempt him back into the game - and a week later United came calling after sacking Ruben Amorim.
It's fair to say the honeymoon period is over and that a divorce is increasingly looking like an option for both parties.
United have now been beaten in three competitions this season. They have won just twice - against mighty Ipswich Town and Azerbaijani minnows Sabah - in nine games.
If Carrick's team fail to cope with Leeds United and the white-hot atmosphere of Elland Road on Sunday then Jim Ratcliffe's brains trust will have a decision to make.
There were some positive signs for United after they finally cleared their scrambled heads after being floored after just 53 seconds by Barrios' opener.
Carrick was able to name summer signings Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans together in midfield for the first time, although that did mean using captain Bruno Fernandes in an unfamiliar position wide on the right.
United lacked a cutting edge on a night of missed chances.
If the plan was to make his team harder to play through, it was torn to shreds when a lightening counter by the home side brought the breakthrough in the blink of an eye.
Lee Kang-In found space and time to send Alex Baena racing clear down the left and he waited patiently before delivering a cross into the path of Barrios to strike a shot that rolled over the line despite Ayden Heaven's attempt to block.
Bryan Mbueno, asked to spearhead United's attack, should have equalised, but after nutmegging Cristian Romero, his shot took a slight deflection off Marcos Llorente's heel and rolled wide.
That marked the spell of some sustained United possession and Marcus Rashford miscued a volley wide after being picked out by Lisandro Martinez's lofted pass forward.
Mbeumo was wasteful once more when he seized on to a mistake by Romero and swapped passes with Youri Tielemans only to send his shot too close to Jan Oblak.
When Santos then sent a free header straight at the Atletico keeper, it was becoming an evening of missed opportunities for United.
Alex Grimaldo almost punished them with a curling free-kick from 25 yards that clipped the angle of post and crossbar with keeper Senne Lammens beaten.
Atletico thought they had scored a second goal when Johnny Cardosa found the bottom corner with a fierce drive two minutes before the break, only for Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg to decide that Llorente had handled in the build-up after checking the pitch-side monitor.
Around 4,500 United fans made the trip to the Spanish capital, perhaps more in hope than expectation and the atmosphere in the cavernous Wanda Metropolitano was raucous. The final will be staged here in June.
The tempo dropped after the break before Julian Alvarez sent a volley against the post after Barrios had picked him out brilliantly.
Then Fernandes looped a wonderful chance wide at the other end after Tielemans' raking switch of play had put him through to face the advancing Oblak.
Carrick sent on Mason Mount, Amad Diallo and Joshua Zirkzee in an effort to find more forward momentum in the final 20 minutes. Fernandes saw his whipped effort bounce off the top of the crossbar after working a short corner with Amad.
But then Yoro tangled with substitute Jonathan David in a race for the ball and was sent off after referee Nyberg had once again been summoned by the VAR. Contact looked minimal but David would have been through on goal.
It was game over in the 79th minute when Lookman walked the ball into an empty net after Lammens had saved superbly from David.
Oblak 7; Llorente 7, Romero 6, Hancko 6, Grimaldo 7; Simeone 6 (Le Normand 88), Barrios 7 (Pubill 60, 6), Cardoso 7, Baena 8 (Lookman 71, 6); Alvarez 6 (Hjulmand 71, 5), Lee Kang-In 6 (David 61, 5).
Lammens 7; Dalot 5, Yoro 5, Martinez 6, Heaven 5; Andrey Santos 6; Baleba 6 (Mount 66, 6), Tielemans 6 (Zirkzee 66, 5); Fernandes 6 (Cunha 80, 5), Mbeumo 6, Rashford 5 (Diallo 66, 5).
G Nyberg (Sweden): 5.
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