MANCHESTER: Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez criticised the club’s top management after his team lost 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League early this morning, insisting he expects greater investment to help the team compete at the highest level.
The Argentina international was particularly critical of the club’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, insisting United needed more new players to compete with the challengers and build a squad capable of competing in Europe.
“I expect more from our technical director. I have to be honest. As players, we also have to do more,” Martinez told Amazon Prime.
Atletico opened the scoring through Pablo Barrios in the first minute at the Metropolitano Stadium before Ademola Lookman secured the home side’s victory in the 79th minute, shortly after United defender Leny Yoro was sent off.
The result extended Michael Carrick’s winless run to five matches across all competitions, and saw United remain with three points in the Champions League group stage after opening the campaign with a 4-0 win over Sabah FK.
United return to the Champions League after a two-season absence, following a group-bottom finish in their last appearance in the 2023-24 season.
“We enjoyed a great season last season and now we expect more efforts from the top, including bringing in more players to enable us to compete because many other teams have also signed many new players,” added Martinez.
United, who are currently 13th in the Premier League, will travel to Leeds United this Sunday before facing Como in their next Champions League match on October 21.