MADRID — Pablo Barrios struck inside the first minute and Ademola Lookman added a late second as Atletico Madrid beat Manchester United 2-0 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Tuesday night. The win gave Diego Simeone’s side their first points of the league phase and stretched United’s winless run to five matches in all competitions, piling fresh pressure on manager Michael Carrick.
A nightmare evening in Madrid
Barrios swept home Alex Baena’s cut-back after barely 50 seconds. The hosts then produced a commanding first half: Alejandro Grimaldo curled a free-kick against the crossbar, Johnny Cardoso saw a goal ruled out by VAR for a Marcos Llorente handball in the build-up, and Julian Alvarez struck the post after the restart.
United briefly threatened. Bruno Fernandes sent a dipping effort against the crossbar and Bryan Mbeumo forced Jan Oblak into two sharp saves, but Leny Yoro’s 74th-minute dismissal for denying Jonathan David a clear scoring chance settled it. Five minutes later Senne Lammens parried David’s drive into Lookman’s path for the second. NBC Sports reported that United have now gone five games without a win, beating only newly promoted Ipswich Town and Azerbaijani side Sabah this season.
The collapse deepens a miserable autumn for marquee clubs; off the pitch in the United States, the Los Angeles Lakers’ record $12.5 billion sale has sparked a family feud among the Buss siblings.
Six-goal thriller in Stavanger
In Norway, Viking Stavanger stunned Bayern Munich with a 2-0 half-time lead through Gianni Stensness’s second-minute header and Peter Christiansen’s 38th-minute counter-attacking finish. Harry Kane dragged Bayern back with a penalty and a header inside six second-half minutes, and Luis Diaz completed the turnaround in the 71st minute — only for Michael Olise to collect two yellow cards in a minute, the second for throwing the ball at Viking captain Zlatko Tripic’s face, as ESPN reported.
Viking made their man advantage count when Herman Johan Haugen nodded in Tripic’s cross in the 90th minute. Kane, who scored for a ninth straight Champions League match, said the red card “changed everything” and that Olise would be gutted to miss next week’s home clash with English champions Arsenal. It was a bruising week for storied franchises on both sides of the Atlantic, following the Maple Leafs’ 6-3 rout of the Avalanche in a heavyweight NHL meeting.
Elsewhere, Arsenal eased past Lille 3-0, Barcelona came from behind to win 4-1 at Galatasaray, and Inter lost 4-3 at home to Club Brugge in a seven-goal thriller. Villarreal beat Napoli 3-1, Sporting won 2-0 at Lens and RB Leipzig edged PSV 1-0. United sit seventh in the league-phase table on three points; Atletico are 13th with the same tally.
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Sources: NBC Sports · ESPN · Bundesliga.com
