Manchester United restart their 2021-22 Champions League campaign with a trip to La Liga champions Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
United head to the Spanish capital on the back of a renewed burst of optimism over their Top 4 chances after successive Premier League wins over Brighton and Leeds United.
Cristiano Ronaldo inspired United in the Champions League group stages, with six key goals, as United topped Group F with 11 points from six games back in December.
Atletico have struggled to keep pace in their Spanish title defense this season, as they currently trail league leaders Real Madrid by 15 points, and they squeezed through in second place in Group B with a paltry seven points.
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Atletico Madrid vs. Man United injury news
Atletico boss Diego Simeone faces an injury and suspension headache ahead of United's visit with four players certain to miss out.
Matheus Cunha, Koke, and Daniel Wass have been ruled out through injury, with Yannick Carrasco suspended for the first leg.
French international pair Thomas Lemar and Antoine Griezmann are in line to return, after not featuring in the 3-0 weekend win at Osasuna.
Man United's Ralf Rangnick has no fresh injury problems to deal with following his team's battling win at Elland Road with Edinson Cavani still expected to miss out.
Raphael Varane returns to start in defense with Fred and Marcus Rashford also pushing for a starting recall.
Atletico Madrid vs. Man United predicted lineups
Simeone leaves both Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez to start against Man United. Mexican international Hector Herrera is in the starting lineup in place of the injured Koke.
Atletico Madrid starting lineup: (5-3-2, left to right) 13-Jan Oblak (GK) — 12-Renan Lodi, 23-Reinildo Mandava, 2-Jose Maria Gimenez, 15-Stefan Savic, 24-Sime Vrsaljko — 16-Hector Herrera, 4-Geoffrey Kondogbia, 14-Marcos Llorente — Llorente, Griezmann, Lemar — 7-Joao Felix, 10-Angel Correa
Atletico Madrid subs (9): 1-Benjamin Lecomte (GK), 31-Christian Gomez (GK), 18-Felipe, 22-Mario Hermoso, 5-Rodrigo De Paul, 11-Thomas Lemar, 26-Javi Serrano, 8-Antoine Griezmann, 9-Luis Suarez
The Champions League represents United's only realistic chance of winning a trophy this season and Rangnick names his strongest possible lineup with Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes all set to start.
Scott McTominay is the surprise absence from the squad due to illness.
Manchester United starting lineup: (4-2-3-1, left to right) 1-David De Gea —23-Luke Shaw, 5-Harry Maguire, 19-Raphael Varane, 2-Victor Lindelof — 17-Fred, 6-Paul Pogba — 25-Jadon Sancho, 18-Bruno Fernandes, 10-Marcus Rashford — 7-Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United subs (12): 22-Tom Heaton (GK), 26-Dean Henderson (GK), 27-Alex Telles, 3-Eric Bailly, 20-Diogo Dalot, 4-Phil Jones, 29-Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 31-Nemanja Matic, Hannibal, 14-Jesse Lingard, 8-Juan Mata, 36-Anthony Elanga
How to watch Atletico Madrid vs. Man United
- Date: Wednesday, Feb. 23
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- U.S. TV channels: CBS, Univision, TUDN
- U.S. streaming: fuboTV
- Canada streaming: DAZN
USA: The match will be broadcast on CBS (English) and Univision and TUDN (Spanish), with all three channels streaming on fuboTV, which is available to new users on a free trial.
Canada: The Champions League is available exclusively live and on-demand on DAZN in Canada.
