'Disgusting': Football world slams 'disgraceful' Champions League incident

Manchester United fans are being condemned around the world after an ugly aftermath to their Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone's Atleti drove another nail in the coffin of a miserable season for United as Renan Lodi's header sent the Spanish champions into the quarter-finals, courtesy a 1-0 win at Old Trafford that sealed a 2-1 aggregate victory.

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The Brazilian full-back Lodi headed in unmarked at the back post four minutes before half-time to end United's last chance of silverware this season as their drought without a trophy since 2017 goes on.

United now face an uphill task just to get back into the Champions League next season as an under-performing squad filled with star names sits fifth in the Premier League.

Interim United manager Ralf Rangnick threw everything but the kitchen sink at the visitors, utilising all five of his substitutes in a desperate attempt to conjure a late equaliser.

Rangnick even took off captain Harry Maguire and replaced him with Juan Mata - the Spanish veteran who's barely featured this season - late on in the contest.

However, United simply could not find a way through a stubborn Atleti defence, with the Spanish side happy to absorb the second half pressure and stall the home side's momentum - sometimes through questionable measures.

The frustration for United's players and fans was palpable at the final whistle, with Simeone making a beeline for the tunnel after overseeing a tactical masterclass in defence.

In shocking scenes as the Atleti coach ran off the pitch though, he was pelted with projectiles thrown from a section of United fans in the stands.

The incident left viewers outraged on social media, with viewers labelling the home fans "disgraceful" and "disgusting".

Cristiano Ronaldo had consistently been the scourge of Atletico in the Champions League, twice landing the ultimate blow in final defeats to Real Madrid and scoring a hat-trick for Juventus to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit at this stage three years ago.

However, Simeone's men finally got one over on the 37-year-old as he failed to have any meaningful impact on the tie.

Atletico send United packing after tactical masterclass

Anthony Elanga came off the bench to salvage a 1-1 draw for United in the Spanish capital three weeks ago and the Swedish teenager was unlucky not to put the hosts ahead in the tie on 13 minutes.

Diogo Dalot's low cross picked out Elanga and his goalbound effort rebounded off Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak's head to safety.

Atletico had been penned inside their own half for the opening 15 minutes, but posed a threat every time they managed to string a few passes together on the counter-attack.

Rodrigo De Paul's long-range effort forced David de Gea into a stunning save at full stretch.

Joao Felix had scored five times in his previous five games, including Atletico's goal in the first leg, finally starting to deliver on his 120 million euro ($131 million) price tag.

The Portuguese had the ball in the net again at the end of a slick Atletico move that cut through a leaden-footed United defence, but Marcos Llorente was flagged offside from Koke's pass before he squared for Felix to apply the finishing touch.

United did not learn their lesson as they were again easily opened up down their left for the decisive goal.

The home fans were still screaming for a foul on Elanga in the Atletico half when the visitors fed the ball forward to Felix, whose backheel found Antoine Griezmann and his cross picked out the unmarked Lodi to head home.

Atletico resorted to the tried and tested tactics of Simeone's reign in the second half as they were happy to sit on their lead and were not unduly troubled by a United side lacking in ideas.

Ralf Rangnick made the brave call to withdraw Bruno Fernandes 23 minutes from time as he emptied his bench in search of an equaliser with Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani among those thrown on.

But set-pieces were the hosts' only source of danger as Oblak produced a superb save to deny Raphael Varane before getting back off the floor to trap Ronaldo's acrobatic follow-up effort.

Those proved to be United's final efforts on target as the visitors held firm to book their place in the last-eight of the competition.

with agencies

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