Manchester United surprisingly lost their opening Champions League match against Young Boys and, perhaps, that’s not the best possible news for Atalanta.
La Dea are in the same group as United, Young Boys and Villareal. They face the ‘Yellow Submarine’ in Spain this evening, already knowing the Red Devils’ result in Switzerland.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after just 13 minutes, but the Premier League giants saw Aaron Wan-Bissaka sent off just 20 minutes later.
Champions League Liveblog: Malmo-Juventus and Villarreal-Atalanta
United played more than one hour down to ten men and the hosts grabbed all three points with goals from Nicolas Ngamaleu and Jordan Siebatcheu, who made the most of a misplaced backpass from Jesse Lingard.
So, what does United defeat mean to Atalanta?
On paper, Manchester United are the best team in Group F, so Atalanta and Villareal would battle it out for the second spot.
Young Boys’ victory doesn’t necessarily change this scenario, but theoretically, both Villareal and Atalanta have one more opponent now.
In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday, Matteo Pessina urged La Dea to win both games against the Swiss side to have a chance to qualify for the Round of 16.
“However, as Gasperini says, there must be a reason why they are in the Champions League,” the Italian midfielder added.
Man United learned it at their cost and Atalanta will surely have one more opponent for the second spot if they don’t win both games against the Swiss side.
Atalanta and Young Boys meet in the next Champions League match on September 29, while the Serie A side travel to Old Trafford on October 20 and host the Red Devils in Bergamo on November 2.
As of now, United’s loss in Switzerland may not be the best news for the Nerazzurri, but perhaps, Gasperini’s side can dream of winning Group F thanks to today’s result. Time will tell.
if Man U think Rony’s gonna bring them glory, they are all wrong… Real won all that hardware b/c the had great, complete teams… ya, he can score, but he’s selfish and can disrupt chemistries on teams… Did nothing for Juve – they didn’t have the complete team I was referring to and he caused issues in the locker room
Be careful @Bob, Rony’s fan boys will surely hate you with your comment. You just stab them in the heart. 🙂