Madrid, Spain - Manchester United is counting its lucky stars – one young star in particular, actually – after coming away with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of its Champions League last 16 matchup against Atlético Madrid.

For 80-odd minutes, this looked like a one-sided pummeling. Not on the scoreboard – and that's what came back to bite Atlético – but in almost every other area.

Five minutes in, United made clearing a ball from its box look like brain surgery, and only a desperate dive from Victor Lindelöf stopped José María Giménez from scoring.

The hosts didn't have to wait long for another chance and this time, there was no stopping them. Renan Lodi, who torched United's entire right side almost single-handedly all night, whipped in the kind of cross that geometrists dream of. The 5 foot 11 João Felix suddenly looked like Michael Jordan, leaping to a perfect header that sent the ball in off the post.

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Atlético were snapping and snarling at everything in a United shirt, which explains why the English side barely managed to string two passes together, never mind actually threaten Jan Oblak's goal. Cristiano Ronaldo, Atleti's tormentor in chief over so many years, spent more time angrily throwing his arms up than touching the ball. It could have been much worse for his team, as Šime Vrsaljko was unlucky to see his header come off Lindelöf's face and then hit the crossbar.

Contracting and expanding like a breathing lung, depending on the circumstances, the Rojiblancos seemed to have everything under control. Hector Herrera and Geoffrey Kondogbia were ruling the midfield, Lodi was still skinning opponents and putting in dangerous crosses, all to a soundtrack of well over 60,000 ecstatic fans.

Amid all that fervor, the entrance of Anthony Elanga in place of Marcus Rashford went almost completely unnoticed. So did his movement not long after that, as the 19-year-old got in behind the defense to score with his first contact and Man Utd's first shot on target. And just like that, with 80 minutes gone, all the air was sucked out of Atleti's pulsating lung.

Antoine Griezmann saw one last opportunity go agonizingly by as his shot met the goal frame towards the end, but the mood had already shifted. Somehow, United made its great escape.

Elanga's match-defining contribution deserves a shout out, but no one exuded more class on the Wanda Metropolitano pitch than João Felix.

His goal was a thing of beauty that gets better with every replay. But it was his overall performance that made him stand out: his little flicks and tricks that left United's players always on the back foot, his movement that allowed him to always find space in dangerous areas.

Now 22, João Felix can't justify the wonderkid tag anymore. In that respect, his record at Atlético Madrid has been mixed and inconsistency still haunts his game.

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But on a good day, the Portuguese forward can easily remind you exactly why Atleti broke the bank to pay $126 million for him.

This was billed as a battle between two stumbling giants, albeit at different stages in their fall.

United haven't been truly good in almost a decade, Atleti for just over half a season. But on recent form, the reigning Spanish champions had more to fear from this tie. Leaking like a sieve in defense, Diego Simeone's side has been going through something like an identity crisis, as the Guardian's Sid Lowe put it.

For most of this game, there was no crisis, no confusion, no doubt about who Atlético are. That old fire was back, so was the defensive solidity, plus some serious flair in attack as a bonus. But this season's malaise reared its ugly head again, a vulnerability that just won't go away.

Man Utd, meanwhile, don't look any closer to having solved their own questions about identity. There's no discernible style to see – neither the famous pressing-centered philosophy of its coach Ralf Ragnick, nor anything else really. Again though, a measure of defensive organization after the break kept United in the game for long enough to create an opening for that sucker punch.

Whether it turns out to be a KO remains to be seen. The return leg will be played March 15.