Manchester United secured an important 3-0 lead in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League playoff against Atlético Madrid. Goals from Elisabeth Terland and Melvine Malard bookended the first half before Julia Zigiotti Olme added a third late on as Marc Skinner’s side produced a professional performance away from home.
These two were familiar opponents having met in Madrid back in October in the league phase. United came out with a 1-0 win on that occasion in an eventful encounter in which both sides were reduced to 10 players.
Since then, their fortunes have diverged. Skinner’s side are in a strong vein of form that has taken them to second place in the Women’s Super League and to their first League Cup final.
For Atlético, things have been less rosy. They have had an inconsistent season in Liga F and they now sit fifth. A run of poor results led to the replacement of Victor Martín with José Herrera in late January. In the three matches since, the new manager has implemented a change to a back three that resulted in them earning their first win in seven against Levante at the weekend.
Herrera named an unchanged line-up from that success. They were without the electric midfielder Luany due to suspension while the new arrivals Priscila Chinchilla and Kathrine Møller Kühl were on the bench.
