Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United: 5 Key Battles that could light up the UEFA Champions League RO16 fixture

#3 Geoffrey Kondogbia (Atletico Madrid) vs Paul Pogba (Manchester United)

Paul Pogba against Burnley on the weekend.

Geoffrey Kondogbia is one of the best defensive midfielders in the Atletico Madrid camp right now. He is all set to battle it out with Frenchman Paul Pogba in the heart of the midfield this week.

The 29-year-old has played for both France and Central African Republic. He will possibly have the task of managing the creativity of his French counterpart on the night. Pogba has been a prominent creative outlet for Manchester United this season.

Kondogbia is a brilliant progressor of the ball through quick passes and is a compulsive non-dribbler. He rarely loses possession or misplaced a pass in his own half.

Meanwhile, Pogba is one of the greatest box-to-box midfielders. Hence, the battle for possession in the middle third could be really exciting between the African and the World Cup-winning Frenchman.

Pogba wins just 45% of his duels compared to Kondogbia's figure of 56%. This gives the Atletico Madrid man a slight edge in the contest.

Pogba has a very high passing success rate of 79% in the opposition half in the Champions League this season. He also makes one key pass at an average per game. This makes him Kondogbia's biggest target to nullify at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday.

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#2 Reinildo (Atletico Madrid) vs Diogo Dalot (Manchester United)

Diogo Dalot has managed to bench Aaron Wan-Bissaka from the starting eleven.

Over the past few months, one of the players who has impressed in the Manchester United shirt the most has been Diogo Dalot. The Portuguese has successfully managed to bench Aaron Wan-Bissaka from the starting XI.

He has put in consistent performances for Ralf Ragnick's team off-late. On Wednesday, though, he comes face-to-face with a player who could be called his shadow, Reinildo Mandava.

Since his arrival from Lille, Reinildo has been the best player in Atletico Madrid's back-line besides Stefan Savic. The Mozambique international has been a revelation for Simeone on the left flank, especially with his hard-hitting tackles. The 28-year-old has averaged 4.3 tackles per game in the Champions League this season. This is one of the highest numbers when it comes to all the left-backs in the competition.

Compare that to Dalot, and we get to see why this could be a decider. The 22-year-old has played just two games in Europe this season, but has averaged 4.5 tackles on average in those 180 minutes. Atletico Madrid usually play a defensive game. Hence, we could see Dalot versus Reinildo in the Atletico half for a majority of 90 minutes on Wednesday.

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#1 Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) vs Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Cristiano Ronaldo is back in Madrid for the first time since 2019.

Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Madrid for the first time since he ousted Diego Simeone's side in Juventus colors back in 2019. The Argentine coach has gone on record to opine that he would have won three Champions League titles if not for Ronaldo. He has a brilliant record against Atletico, making 34 goal contributions in 35 matches, including four hat-tricks.

Simeone will be hoping his defense keeps the 37-year-old quiet in front of goal on Wednesday.

Ronaldo against any other player would always be a battle to relish from a viewers' point of view. But the legend coming up against one of the modern era's greatest goal-keepers, Jan Oblak, makes the event even mouth-watering.

Oblak has been criticized for being one of the poor performers for Atletico this season. The Slovenian stopper has conceded 35 goals in 25 La Liga appearances already. This remains the Rojiblancos' worst defensive record in the past decade.

Oblak will be tasked with not only saving Ronaldo's attempts on goal but also with instructing his centre-backs with the right positioning on the field. Ronaldo has kept his Champions League goal-scoring record intact with six goals in five appearances this season. That gives him a 30% shot conversion ratio in Europe, which is a very good number to possess.

United travel to Spain for the first leg on Wednesday, with the second leg set to be played at Old Trafford in mid-March.