Atlético Madrid 1, Manchester United 1

Atlético Madrid got nearly everything it wanted against Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday — except for the win.

Atlético kept old foe Cristiano Ronaldo in check and got a stellar performance from his Portugal teammate João Félix, but a defensive lapse near the end meant Diego Simeone's team had to settle for a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the round of 16.

Félix — once touted as the next Ronaldo — was the most dangerous forward and put the hosts ahead with a diving header seven minutes into the match, but substitute Anthony Elanga equalized in the 80th shortly after coming off the bench in one of the few times the Atlético defense broke down.

“I think it was my first touch,” said Elanga, who became United’s youngest-ever scorer in the knockout stage at 19 years, 302 days. “I’ve dreamt of moments like this, scoring in the Champions League against a top team like Atlético Madrid."

Atlético was in control during most of the match at the Wanda Metropolitano and twice hit the crossbar, including with an 86th-minute shot by Antoine Griezmann.

“They took advantage of a mistake in what was a very good game for us,” Simeone said. “We did almost everything right the entire match. We couldn't win but I'm happy with how we played and it's all wide open for the second game.”

The return leg will be on March 15 in England.

In the other round-of-16 match Wednesday, Benfica and Ajax drew 2-2 in Portugal.

“After the performance in the first half it could only get better,” United coach Ralf Rangnick said. “What we played in the first half — I still can’t believe it. We played without conviction and the necessary aggression against the ball.”

Ronaldo, who several times ended Atlético's title hopes in the Champions League when he was with crosstown rival Real Madrid, struggled throughout the match and was visibly frustrated. Isolated up front, he was booed by the Atlético fans nearly every time he touched the ball at the Metropolitano.

Félix was much more dangerous for Atlético, constantly threatening with his quick turns and strong runs.

The 21-year-old forward opened the scoring with a powerful header off a well-placed cross by Renan Lodi. The ball came off the post before going in to make Félix the first Portuguese player to score a Champions League goal against United since Ronaldo found the net for Juventus against the English side in November 2018.

It was Félix’s seventh Champions League goal in 20 appearances in the competition, and first since 2020.

With the 37-year-old Ronaldo well defended and not being able to connect with his teammates, United seemed beaten until Elanga broke free to find the net from inside the area after a nice through ball from playmaker Bruno Fernandes, the competition’s assists leader with seven.

Elanga had entered the match five minutes earlier and took advantage of the rare space given up by the Atlético defense, scoring United's 500th goal in the competition previously known as the European Cup.

“We are a bit disappointed, we didn’t deserve a draw,” Atlético defender José María Giménez said. “We did everything we had to do to win. We defended well and created scoring chances in attack. They scored on a casual goal, and we didn’t deserve that.”

Atlético finished with 13 total attempts but only one on target, while United had two on target from nine in total. Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak was credited with the only save of the game.

Griezmann, who started on the bench along with Luis Suárez, had the chance to put Atlético ahead again near the end but his shot hit the crossbar. Atlético also was held by the woodwork just before halftime when a close-range header by Sime Vrsaljko bounced onto the crossbar off the face of United defender Victor Lindelof.

Ronaldo, who had scored in all five group-stage matches he played, was visibly frustrated with his team’s struggles and also complained to the referees while going into the changing rooms at halftime. His best scoring chance came from a 79th-minute free kick that sailed high.

He has only one goal in his last nine games in all competitions in what is one of his leanest spells since becoming a scoring machine in the latter part of his first stint with United from 2003-09.

Ronaldo helped end Atlético’s Champions League title hopes five different times while playing for Real Madrid and Juventus. He scored hat tricks for Madrid in 2017 and Juventus in 2019 and converted decisive penalty kicks in the finals between the city rivals in 2014 and 2016.

He had 25 goals in 35 career meetings against Atlético, the most against any opponent other than Sevilla.

It was the first meeting between the clubs since the second round of the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup in 1991-92, when Atlético won 4-1 on aggregate.

Ajax 2, Benfica 2

Sébastien Haller can't stop scoring in the Champions League. He now has 11 goals in seven matches for Ajax — and one for Benfica.

Haller scored for both teams Wednesday as Benfica came from behind twice to hold Ajax to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 clash Wednesday.

The prolific Ivory Coast striker's 11 goals for Ajax in his first seven Champions League matches are the highest tally ever by a debutant in Europe's top club competition.

But it was not enough to secure Ajax's seventh straight Champions League victory of the season.

Captain Dusan Tadic put Ajax ahead in the 18th minute, placing a volley past Odisseas Vlachodimos in the Benfica goal after a cross from the right by Noussair Mazraoui, who had started the move by winning the ball on right from Alejandro Grimaldo.

Haller deflected a hard, low cross by former Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen into his own net to bring the scores level in the 26th minute but made amends just three minutes later when he tapped home a rebound to continue his scoring streak.

Haller told Dutch broadcaster RTL 7 he blamed himself for the own goal and was glad to have made amends quickly.

“You need to be there at the good moment, and this is what I'm training to do,” he said.

He could have given Ajax a comfortable two-goal cushion shortly before halftime but only managed to steer the ball wide from close range after Edson Alvarez hit the post.

“You are never happy when you don't win a match,” Tadic said “But this is Europe, there are two matches.”

In the group phase, Haller became the first man to score 10 goals in his first six games in Europe’s top-tier competition as Ajax won all of its matches.

Ajax coach Erik ten Hag lamented his team’s failure to capitalize on chances that could have put the match out of Benfica’s reach.

“We let it slip unnecessarily. We didn't convert chances,” he said.

But the Amsterdam club struggled in Lisbon as Benfica threatened throughout the second half with its quick breaks.

A deflected shot by Everton went wide in the 55th minute and Darwin Nuñez just failed to get on the end of a cross by Rafa Silva five minutes later. It was a rare failure by Nuñez, who has scored 23 times across all competitions this season.

The pressure finally paid off when Remko Pasveer saved a powerful shot by Gonçalo Ramos and substitute Roman Yaremchuk beat Steven Berghuis to the ball to head home Benfica's second equalizer of the night in the 72nd minute.

“We had the better chances in the second half. In the end, the game could have gone either way," Vertonghen said.

Benfica was playing its first Champions League game under Nélson Veríssimo, who took over after Jorge Jesus was fired despite leading the Lisbon club into the knockout stage from a group that included Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

The evening's other round-of-16 match also ended in a draw, 1-1 between Atletico Madrid and Manchester United.