Lisandro Martinez Shines in UEFA Champions League Return for Manchester United
Lisandro Martinez has enjoyed big nights in hostile territory for Manchester United. Goals at Arsenal, Liverpool, Fulham – all away, all under fire. But this time, under the Old Trafford lights, the noise belonged to him.
On United’s return to the UEFA Champions League, the Argentine centre-back finally wrote his name onto a home European night, capping a 4-0 dismantling of Azerbaijani side Sabah with a thumping second-half strike.
By then, the damage was already done. Matheus Cunha, Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko had built a commanding lead, United slicing through a clearly overmatched Sabah side with an authority that has been missing too often in recent months. The scoreline reflected it. The performance, more importantly, underlined it.
Martinez’s Old Trafford moment
For Martinez, this was more than just goal number four in United colours. It was the end of an oddly specific drought: every previous strike for the club had come on the road. Old Trafford had seen his tackles, his snarls, his celebrations. Not his finish.
That changed in front of a packed Stretford End and, crucially for him, with his girlfriend watching from the stands.
"It's an amazing feeling, scoring in this amazing and beautiful stadium with those people and also my girlfriend being there," he told MUTV afterwards. "Tonight, honestly, I'm one of the happiest people in the world."
The description fit the night. United finally kept their first clean sheet of the season in any competition, and Martinez stood at the heart of it, snarling into challenges, snapping into duels, and setting the tone for a side that, for once, never took a backward step.
"You have to go to every ball like the last one, and I think that's what we did today," he said. "In every duel, we were so dominant."
That edge showed from the opening whistle. United pressed high, bit into tackles, and Sabah never settled. The visitors were physically overpowered and technically outgunned, the game drifting into damage limitation long before the final quarter of an hour.
Anthem, authority, and a clean sheet at last
The Champions League anthem returned to Old Trafford with its usual surge of electricity. Martinez admitted that the raw energy it brings can be hard to contain, but United channelled it into control rather than chaos.
They imposed themselves early, then never loosened their grip.
The back line, marshalled by Martinez, finally delivered the kind of defensive platform the season had been crying out for. Sabah offered little, but United did not allow them even that. Every second ball, every 50-50, every shoulder-to-shoulder seemed to go the way of the home side.
For a defender who lives on confrontation, it was his kind of night.
From CBS laughter to derby focus
When the serious work was done, Martinez allowed himself a different role. On CBS Sports he caught Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards off guard with sharp, playful post-match exchanges, showing the relaxed, mischievous side that rarely surfaces when the whistle blows.
The contrast was stark: ruthless on the pitch, loose and laughing off it. The message, though, stayed consistent.
He praised his team-mates for the way they set the tone physically and controlled the tempo across the 90 minutes. This, in his eyes, was United as they should look: aggressive, front-foot, uncompromising.
But the celebrations, he insisted, cannot last.
"We have to enjoy and, tomorrow, we have to think about the derby," Martinez said. "We want to play with a big mentality and focus, and we want to try to get the three points."
The timing of this performance matters. United have their European comeback up and running, three points banked, confidence nudged upwards. Next, they welcome Manchester City to Old Trafford on Sunday in a Premier League derby that will test every claim of renewed ruthlessness.
The anthem has faded. The lights will be just as bright. Now Martinez and United must show that this was not a one-night show, but the start of something far more serious.
