Youri Tielemans talked about a 2-0 defeat for Manchester United against Atlético Madrid.

The comments from Lisandro Martínez about the negligence of the club’s ownership structure have stolen headlines after the action at the Metropolitano Stadium.

However, there should still be a discussion had about the struggles of the Red Devils to produce performances on the pitch.

United have only picked up six Premier League points from their first six fixtures in the division, having drawn 1-1 with 10-man Tottenham on the weekend, and there was no reprieve on Tuesday.

‘Our character and energy was very good’

Pablo Barrios broke the deadlock in the 1st minute of the match as a high press was pulled apart.

Tielemans tried to help engineer a response, releasing the runs of Bryan Mbeumo to good effect on a couple of occasions.

However, his teammate could not convert those opportunities, and there was only so much the extra midfield presence from Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba could help the visitors.

A Johnny Cardoso goal was disallowed for the hosts when a handball was flagged in buildup, and Ademola Lookman doubled the advantage for the Rojiblancos not long after a Leny Yoro red card.

Tielemans on the defeat

"[It is a] tough one. When you concede after a minute it is hard to get into the game straight away.

"We had more compactness at times, at times we were found out as they had the quality and were going to play through us. We did well in spells and our character and energy was very good.

"It is very hard to say after a defeat that there are positives. We just have to work hard, to keep working and keep trusting in our structure. We have to keep working, keep trusting each other and be together on this."