Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League after a 1-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid last night.
Renan Lodi was left unmarked at the back post to score the opener, with a header five minutes before half-time. The goal proved to be enough to send the away side through into the quarter-finals.
Many fans on Twitter have been blaming Harry Maguire for being pulled out of position, leading to Diogo Dalot coming in field to cover, but some supporters disputed that theory:
Driving me nuts. The guy could be on the bench and he’d still get blamed.
— Adam (@AdamMUFC24) March 15, 2022
Get a GRIP he had 3 players to defend
— stuart peacock (@peacock2985) March 15, 2022
It’s a combination of things. But people don’t need a reason to pile on Maguire
— Marcogianni🇺🇦 (@Niromael) March 15, 2022
What’s dalot meant to do when he’s got 3 players to mark … ??
— Tom. 🌖 (@TL_862_) March 15, 2022
Maguire slander gets u nice clicks that’s the reason
— Raghav1897 (@raghav1897) March 15, 2022
How on earth is that dalot fault…
— Bezza (@CtbFooty) March 15, 2022
Maguire went to be A midfielder😂😂
— Gabriellah Osendo (@gabriellahosen1) March 15, 2022
Dalot can’t play in a back 4 imo. He’s been pretty up and down and unfortunately it’s more down than up :/
— Leo (@Jedi_SZN) March 16, 2022
Thats well before the goal. Show their positioning in the box where it matters
— Stop Savin Chat (@FootballRenais1) March 15, 2022
To be honest with you, while Maguire doesn’t cover himself in glory leading up to the goal, Dalot had more than enough time to get back in position and cut out the cross.
The Portuguese fullback ended up ball-watching, rather than covering Lodi. If the fault for the goal lies with anyone, it has to be Dalot, although it still doesn’t excuse the poor defending from Maguire and the rest of the team in the build-up.
