Atlético Madrid v Manchester United: Champions League – live

Key events40m agoTeams: Baleba starts for United1h agoPreambleJosh Keeling also has his theories: “I reckon it might be a diamond with Fernandes behind a front two. Or maybe Fernandes as a false nine. Let’s see.”Whisper it, but Bruno has not been playing well this season. He did not complete a pass for a long time against Tottenham, and there’s been that hint from the international break that he’s been playing with an injury.Sean McHale gets in touch: “Looks like Bruno at false nine, John. I think a good shout as they’ve been far too open in a de facto 4-4-2. And Tielemans not great in a two.”Carrick said that we would have to “wait and see” when asked about Bruno, so that suggests Sean may be right there.Diego Simeone made mention of Julian Alvarez in his pre-match duties: “Well, he’s happy because I’ve been able to speak to him a lot and I’ve really focussed on Julian Alvarez as the person, not just the player and I think we’ve reached reached a very good point with him.“Michael Carrick speaks to the Amazon UK broadcast: “It’s where we want to be. Got a really good history of this competition and that’s where we want to challenge ourselves and test ourselves. you know, we’ve worked hard to be here. We want a reaction You know, we haven’t had the results that we wanted, that we expected. Fine margins in some of them games and it can go both ways, but the reality is exactly where we are now and this is a fresh opportunity.“I think we want a get control without the ball and we want a lot more control with it whatever get. I think we’ve got a bit of flexibility. I think we need to defend as a whole team. But you have proved that we’re capable of doing that and we got to get back to that.”For Atleti, Koke missing, as mentioned previously, but Julian Alvarez, who wanted to leave the club in the summer, is a starter. His last start was against Liverpool, so this is his first home start of the season.That United team looks like Youri Tielemans is being pushed forward and Bruno Fernandes will be playing off the flanks. Marcus Rashford returns to the starting lineup. Baleba added some energy to United on Saturday against Tottenham though his shooting was a little wayward. Is that Dalot or Yoro at left-back? Would guess Yoro. Andrey Santos for the double pivot, too.Teams: Baleba starts for UnitedAtlético Madrid: Oblak, Llorente, Romero, Hancko, Grimaldo, Simeone, Barrios, Cardoso, Alex Baena, Alvarez, Lee. Subs: Musso, Mendoza, Sorloth, Lookmnan, David, Ortiz, Pubill, Hjulmand, Le Normand, Lituba, Dani Martinez, Castillo.Manchester United: Lammens, Dalot, Martinez, Heaven, Yoro, Santos, Baleba, Tielemans, B.Fernandes, Rashford, Mbeumo. Subs: Darlow, Mee, Amass, Armer, De Ligt, Maguire, Mount, T.Fletcher, Lacey, Amad, Cunha, Zirkzee.Michael Carrick was not exactly bullish – he never is – but he remains publicly calm under pressure. double quotation markWe hoped for a lot more, we expected a lot more, and we are where we are. I was aware that, winning as many as we had [last season], it was going to get more challenging, stickier. I understand that when it is not going well there is a real clamour and a feeling that it’s a disaster, that it’s all wrong and that everything needs to be changed. I kind of get that, but that’s not our mindset and it’s certainly not mine. You have to deal with things and overcome them. That is what I did throughout my career. We have to accept reality but we are building and you can’t lose sight of the journey. It feels a long time since Manchester United played Sabah on their opening group-stage match.There will be 3,750 United fans in the stands. They have not had much to cheer this season.Atlético Madrid captain Koke will not play tonight after his mother died.There will be a moment of silence before the game at the Metropolitano Stadium, and the home team’s players will wear black armbands. Koke’s brother, Borja Resurrección, is an assistant coach of Atletico’s under-19 squad. The club’s flag outside the Metropolitano is flying at half-mastPreambleWith Manchester United and Michael Carrick careering towards the dumper, then travelling to face Diego Simeone’s Atleti is almost certainly not the fixture that would be handpicked. Though perhaps it can serve as some kind of turning point. Play as sluggishly as United have in their last two Premier League matches either side of the international break – Fulham and Tottenham – and there’s big trouble in store. Atlético have won their last four matches in La Liga, including a famous win in the Madrid derby. Their last Champions League match did, thouugh, see them lose at Anfield. If the competition’s bloated structure has its critics, and United can probably get away with losing in the scheme of reaching the knockouts, Carrick can barely afford to. Further to that, there may not be two more opposite touchline characters than Simeone and Carrick.Kick-off is at 8pm UK time. Join me.