Manchester United Manager, Ralf Rangnick has urged his players to follow in the steps of Anthony Elanga’s lead after the teenage sensation rescued a point for the Red Devils.
Elanga came off the bench to score his first Champions League goal as United earned a 1-1 draw away to Atletico Madrid, in a match that was largely dominated by the Spanish side.
Rangnick hopes his Man Utd teammates can emulate Elanga, 19, who also scored against Leeds over the weekend.
“He’s playing as if his dream’s come true, and there’s just joy and fun to watch him play,” Rangnick said.
“I wish a few other players would take him as an example, almost like a role model. Not because he’s doing everything right, but he just’s enjoying himself on the pitch and that’s what it’s all about.
“Football is an important sport, even more so for our supporters, but it’s still a ball game and you have to enjoy yourself on the pitch. This is what I would wish us to do in the future, also when we play [Atletico] again in a couple of weeks,” he added.
United fell behind after just seven minutes against Atletico, as Joao Felix powered a header past David de Gea.
Although they will be happy to take a draw back to Old Trafford for the second leg, Rangnick was concerned with a lot of what he saw in the opening 45 minutes.
“After the performance in the first half, it could only get better.
“What we played in the first half I still cannot believe. We played without conviction, without aggression and that is why we were struggling.
“Second half we did better, more possession in areas that mattered and if we played another 10 minutes we might have won the game.
“We have to play better in the first half, I was very disappointed by that performance,” Rangnick said.
