Considerably less possession, yet the ability to still stamp overwhelming authority and possess such control in a match of football. It’s a rare art, but an art mastered by Diego Simeone.
Manchester United had lessons to learn from the first leg of their round of 16 Champions League tie in Madrid, in which they were fortunate to take a late point. They could ill-afford, given the defensive prowess of their opposition, to start in such a slack manner again.
Atletico Madrid were allowed little grasp on proceedings amidst United's positivity in possession at the outset. Hereby, there were immediate signs as to one lesson being learned, with the approach from Ralf Rangnick's side forward-thinking, preventing any replication of Joao Felix's seventh minute opener in the Spanish capital three weeks prior.
Atletico had scored inside the opening three minutes of their two matches in precession to their trip to Old Trafford - a newfound knack established by Felix. However, it was United who possessed such early belief on Tuesday night, with Ronaldo, following a weekend hat-trick, eager to the extent that he produced a freestyle display of keep-ups in the opening minutes.
United ensured a stamping of their authority, attempting a number of passes through, up and over the opposing defence. In spite of their best efforts, though, United quickly found Atletico's typically compact back line to their disbenefit, finding themselves often outnumbered in the attacking thirds.
Nonetheless, the Atletico back line was put under duress and tested, with the Old Trafford faithful enthused by their side's aggressive approach. There had been rallying cries in the buildup to the game, and the home fans responded; the intensity on the pitch was an absolute reciprocation of the energy displayed by those around the stadium.
No matter their dominance over the possession share, chances were always likely to be few and far between for United against such a well-drilled defensive line, thus it was a crucial early moment when Jan Oblak denied Anthony Elanga from almost point-blank range. At the opposite end, David de Gea was called upon to make a similarly important save as he plucked a swerving effort by Rodrigo de Paul from its trajectory towards the top corner.
It was an encounter full of life, with Fred impeccably representing this with a number of skillful passages in midfield. He came close to finding an opening with the pristine execution of a 'joga bonito' skill to deceive Stefan Savic inside the opposing penalty area.
The two full-backs had been similarly important to United's impetus, showing aptitude to build from the back, also important in the sense of their license to push forward and overlap the wide players, even if it was to varied avail. However, it became a marker of United's unravelling that assets of strength at one end started to work to their detriment at the other.
Alex Telles was caught out by Marcos Llorente's run in behind in the buildup to Atletico finding the net, albeit ruled offside; to the Telles' relief, the auxiliary right wing-back had made his dart slightly too early. It was similarly a let-off for the rest of United's defence, with Diogo Dalot and Raphael Varane ousted by Felix's cutting run after Harry Maguire left a dearth for the ball to be played across into.
Although promptly disallowed, the goal was enough to unsettle United and their rhythm and cede some of their foothold.
Soon after the disallowed goal, again through a move down Telles' side, Atletico did take a legitimate lead. Despite illegitimacy in the eyes of many United fans due to an alleged foul on Elanga to produce the decisive turnover, the goal stood on this occasion.
Felix played a central role again, this time making a critical run between Telles and Varane to latch onto a De Paul through ball from within a tight area. Although scrutiny has been rife since the Portuguese international made the switch to Madrid, there was clear justification of the quality that necessitated a triple-figure price tag. There was a conjunct display of dynamism and skill to hold possession and backheel into Antoine Griezmann's path.
It was Griezmann who delivered the deciding ball, left by Maguire and not placed under duress by Telles. Dalot's indecision as to whether to mark De Paul or Renan Lodi was crucial, with the latter able to convert a free header at the far post.
Lodi had been a persistent threat in the first leg, thereby it was a lesson not learned by United when he was left unattended to arrive into the penalty area to score. Atletico's runners reaped havoc, whilst United were ill-disciplined not to stick to their men.
Going behind was always the nightmare scenario for United given the astuteness of Diego Simeone's defence, even though they did respond to such adversity in the first leg.
Aside from the occasional burst following on from the juncture, United failed to set any form of sustained reactive precedent after going behind. As anticipated, Atletico naturally settled into their firm defensive structure, with simultaneous signs that any United belief and vigour had diminished. In hand, there was a drop in tempo from the hosts which triggered inferiority to their opposition, who were typically displaying grit and determination.
It was a measured defensive approach from Atletico, marshalling United with efficiency whilst calculated in opting to press on occasion, balancing a reserved blockade with infliction of high energy. When they did apply a press, it was from the very front; Maguire found himself trapped inside his own box in one instant, forcing De Gea into making a precarious clearance.
Against a side with such defensive expertise, there was exposure of flaws in terms of United's outright quality. A torrent of creative limitations reared their head at once.
Restlessness in attempt to break down Atletico's staunch guard was aligned with a growing speculative element within United's buildup. Despite consistent losses in aerial duels, crosses were delivered in abundance. Ultimately, only three of 23 attempted crosses were actually completed.
There was a loss of previously apparent co-ordination amidst United's ranks. Ronaldo often floated unnecessarily into wide areas amidst anguish at an increasing lack of involvement, hindering the fluidity of the performance where such movement had previously been of enhancement. There was an emergent disconnection between the different units on the pitch, with United struggling to play through the lines against Atletico's well-drilled off-ball setup.
Simeone's specialties came to the fore: managing to keep a stranglehold on proceedings whilst more than content to allow their opposition the vast majority of possession.
Rangnick did his utmost to positively influence proceedings amidst his side's woes, making a lot of changes in a short period of time midway through the second half. The impacts of the substitutes, it must be said, were overall minimal.
Namely, Marcus Rashford against such a resolute opposition defence in his current substandard patch of form was always bound to be a mismatch. His first action was to run into a dead end and commit a foul, his first pass a miscue soon in procession.
It wasn't solely a lapse in quality that rendered United the inferior entity. They were also ousted by Atletico's mind games, with a constant adamance to slow the game down - whether it be through halting before taking set-pieces and thrown-ins, or through making substitutions.
There was a display of gamesmanship synonymous with Simeone, whereby the game was disjointed and any rhythm was difficult to establish. He is a manager that you despise to face up against, yet you would take him at your club in the blink of an eye.
In addition to other means of time wasting, there were high grade acting skills on display from the Atletico players to frequently deceive the referee with theatrical injury-claiming antics. United, proof of the success of Simeone's guile, became frustrated, especially when referee Slavko Vincic blew for a stoppage with Llorente holding his shin.
There were eruptions of anger around a progressively more fretful Old Trafford crowd, with fury centred at the Slovenian referee, especially when only four minutes of added time were awarded in spite of the ball only being in play for just over 11 minutes in the final half-hour of the tie.
"I can't remember the game in the second half for more than two or three minutes without being interrupted," Rangnick argued.
"There was always somebody lying on the floor. I would also say some curious refereeing decisions. I wouldn't say they were decisive but at least he fell too often for time-wasting antics and four minutes at the end added on was a joke."
Whilst blame was heaped on the referee, it was a situation that United should never have been within anyway. The disorder at the club only became more apparent - through the performance and deeper.
The fact that technical director Darren Fletcher - for some reason on the touchline still - was booked provides evidence of issues deeper ingrained.
On the pitch, in the final 10 minutes, Juan Mata was strangely introduced in place of Maguire, even though his minutes throughout the season weren't even equivalent to two completed regulation time periods. Jesse Lingard was an option, but surplus to requirement in Rangnick's eyes.
It was a poor look that United's captain had been perceived an easy option to withdraw in a crucial Champions League tie, especially when his withdrawal was met with a rousing cheer.
Could you have imagined anything of the ilk happening to the likes of Roy Keane?
No way.
Maguire wasn't even present for post-match media duties. Instead, De Gea took on the role and was present inside the press room.
"It's not good enough," said De Gea, dejected, when speaking about the performance."
"It's hard for the club, for us and the fans. It's really hard. This is where we are at the moment. It's a difficult situation. We have to keep fighting. I feel very sad but we were not good enough."
It was hoped that the marquee summer signings of Varane, Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho would be enough to help United challenge this season, yet, once again, it’s a case of the season feeling done and dusted in March.
United are now on the back foot in the charge a top four Premier League spot, with confirmation of no silverware for five years.
It is now six from eight in terms of Champions League knockout tie losses, with four consecutive knockout defeats at Old Trafford since 2014.
Inadequacies remain and in abundance. It’s a long way back.
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