Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United need fans to raise the roof against Atletico

Old Trafford crowd must inspire their team in Champions League last-16 second leg against Simeone's Spaniards

ATLETICO MADRID RATINGS: Jan Oblak 5 - Didn’t have much to do and looked comfortable for the most part, but came up short when his side needed him most, getting his angles and body position all wrong for the goal. AFP

Jose Maria Gimenez 7 - Looked certain to score in the third minute, but a superb block by Lindelof denied him. Defended well and wasn’t greatly troubled by United. AFP

Stefan Savic 7 - The tattooed Montenegrin defended well and timed his challenges carefully in and around the box. Relished the battle and won most of his individual duels. AFP

Reinildo Mandava 6 - Worked well with Lodi down Atletico’s left, but was at fault for the goal when he gambled and slid in attempting to intercept Bruno Fernandes’s through ball. Getty Images

Sime Vrsaljko 6 - Caught out of position on a cross ball early in the second half, but got away with it. Good energy up and down the right. AFP

Renan Lodi 8 - Incredible left-footed delivery for the goal. The energetic Brazilian always looked to bomb forward and delivered dangerous crosses that asked questions of the Manchester United’s back line. AFP

Geoffrey Kondogbia 9 - A colossus in the middle of the park for Atleti. Won almost every second ball, broke up play and dominated the midfield battle with his energy and athleticism. Ran the show in the first half. AFP

Hector Herrera 8 - The robust Mexican used his body well to protect the ball and control the tempo for Atleti. Almost flawless in possession. Was a perfect foil for his midfield partner Kondogbia. AFP

Marcos Llorente 7 - The Spain international had some clever touches and linked well with the front two. Excellent work rate out of possession. AFP

Joao Felix 7 - Scored Atletico’s goal after seven minutes with a well-timed run across the face of Harry Maguire to score with a diving header in off David de Gea’s near post. Didn’t stop all night, showed lovely feet and close control in tight areas. Getty Images

Angel Correa 7 - Cleverly won free kicks in good areas and was a constant menace for Manchester United’s defenders with his energy and movement. Getty Images

SUB: Antoine Griezmann 7 (Felix, 75’) - Almost won it for the home side with a curling snapshot that hit the United bar with three minutes to go. Getty Images

SUB: Thomas Lemar 6 (Lodi, 75’) - Looked lively in the attacking third. AFP

MAN UNITED RATINGS: David de Gea 6 - Edgy start against his former club as Joao Felix superbly headed past him after seven minutes. It started with his poor clearance. Lucky it wasn’t two when Llorente’s header hit the bar. AP Photo

Luke Shaw 5 - Poor game. Booked and deservedly so. Off in the first batch of substitutions before he got a second yellow. EPA

Harry Maguire 4 - Felix got ahead of him to put Atleti ahead with a beautiful header. Blocked a cross six minutes later. Good at Leeds, bad in Madrid. AFP

Raphael Varane 5- Back in the city where he made his name across town, Varane suffered a clumsy moment after 30 minutes, conceding possession and then a free-kick. More Trabant than Rolls Royce in the first half, he improved in the second. Getty Images

Victor Lindelof 6 - Unusual in that the Swede played at right-back. Strong block to prevent a shot on goal after two minutes but wasn’t close to the excellent Lodi when he crossed for the opener. AFP

Paul Pogba 4 - Carelessly robbed of possession in the first half where the Spaniards were well on top. A big platform for him to show his level in a country where he long wanted to play, he was outclassed by Spain’s fifth best-placed side missing five of their best players. Fuming when he came off. AFP

Fred 5 - United’s midfield was outplayed in the first half, yet still had more possession … and could do little with it. Fouled – to Atleti fury – late on. By that time he was playing in a deeper role. AP Photo

Bruno Fernandes 6 - Robbed of possession three times early on. Pinged United’s first shot towards goal on 14 minutes. Lost his temper, moaned and moaned and was abused by the crowd for being Portuguese. Set up Elanga for the goal, though. AP Photo

Jadon Sancho 6 - Got back to intercept an Atleti attack but one of United’s best players in the last month didn’t have a great night. He worked hard, but that wasn’t enough. EPA

Marcus Rashford 4 - Barely involved. Lost possession as a United attack broke down after 64 minutes. Booked for it. A nothing game. AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo 4 - Little service and this little involvement in first half-hour, then shot wide. Moaned and asked for yellow cards to be given. Struck a 78th minute free-kick well over, to the loudest jeers of the night. EPA

SUB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7 (Lindelof, 66’). One of two full-backs brought on by Ralf Rangnick and he did set one chance up. AFP

SUB: Alex Telles 6 (Shaw, 66’). Clattered after 10 minutes. Booked on 83. Superb cross on 90. AFP

SUB: Nemanja Matic 7 (Pogba, 66’). Steady, steady, steady, which is exactly what was asked of him. AFP

SUB: Anthony Elanga 8 (Rashford, 75’). “Rhythm is a dancer Anthony Elanga, You won’t stop him if you dare. Came from Scandinavia, to be United’s savior, scoring goals from everywhere. Woah it’s Elanga.” Reuters

SUB: Jesse Lingard (Sancho, 82’). N/A. AFP

Old Trafford came alive on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals helped, three points and three goals against a decent side, a direct rival.

The atmosphere was good, it could have been better and when Ralf Rangnick said he needs another 10-15 per cent from his players in Tuesday’s Champions League game against Atletico Madrid, he could have been speaking about the fans, too.

In 2018, United drew a game at the same stage in Seville and the Spaniards came back to Old Trafford for a must-win second leg. As Seville took control but the tie stayed at 0-0, United froze, both the team and the fans. Sevilla scored twice. United, the team and the fans, woke up when it was too late. United went out of the competition.

Old Trafford is louder than it was in 2018, the Red Army section in the Stretford End works and J and K Stand still have their moments, but there can’t be a repeat of Seville on Tuesday. United fans need to raise their game as much as the team does. If Atletico, the in-form champions of Spain, can quieten the home fans then it’ll help them.

Their Argentinian manager Diego Simeone, from a country where the atmosphere for an average league game makes most Premier League stadiums seem like a library, knows the value of fan support. Atletico’s were very loud in the home game against United, a game they feel they deserved far more than a draw from. They’re vengeful.

“I was impressed with the number of United fans in Madrid,” one Madrid based journalist told me last week of the 3,300 Reds in Spain. “But they were pretty quiet until the equaliser, then they didn’t stop singing.”

Again, United fans need to get in front of the team rather than waiting for the team to do something. Real Madrid made fans a priority last week before their game against PSG.

It’s not like them, but they realised they needed everything to overcome a side who had Mbappe, Neymar and Messi up front. The players went to their fans after they’d beaten Real Sociedad in the previous game, then went back out to them from the dressing room.

Every Madrid player talked up the importance of the fans before the match. And the crowd responded. They could have been louder and PSG’s fans were better. The Parisians did not stop, even when their team faltered and the Bernabeu really came alive.

But Real Madrid are a better side than Manchester United and they’re better than Atletico. United need every drop of support from the 70,000 who’ll be inside Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Support for an average, rather than a vintage side. Support that builds before the game – from fans who are not making a noise in the pub but in the stadium.

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In 2017, Ajax fans filled their sections in Stockholm 90 minutes before the game when the United sections were three-quarters empty and only filled for kick-off.

It should be support that doesn’t start moaning after five minutes or doesn’t go quiet after five minutes as it did against Monaco in 1998 when Monaco scored. Support like the team had when Barcelona visited in 1984 and 2008.

“The fans kept us going, they never stopped, they kept us motivated and kept the adrenalin going,” said Bryan Robson when I asked him about the 1984 game recently.

“The pitch felt like it was shaking. It was the biggest crowd of the season, 58,000. Some fans climbed the floodlight pylons to see the game.”

Robson is regularly asked about that game 38 years later. Barcelona’s players say it was the loudest atmosphere they ever encountered. They paid begrudging nods to the M16 noise in 2008, too.

Atletico have Simeone, who earned David Beckham a red card in France 1998. They have Luis Suarez. They ended United’s run as the Cup Winners’ Cup holders in 1991 in the two teams’ only previous meeting.

They’d love nothing more than to knock their nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo out of Europe, the man who stopped them winning not one but two Champions League finals in 2014 and 2016 when he scored the final Real Madrid goals.

Are United’s fans going to let them off lightly? They need to make some noise.