“He tore Manchester United’s defense apart, but finished bottom in the ratings?” ... Spanish media give Lee Kang-in just one star despite his “magic pass”—what happened?

[Financial News] A “magic pass” just 50 seconds into the match tore apart the defense of English powerhouse Manchester United (Man U). But after the final whistle, Spanish media were decidedly cool in their assessment. It was a painful reminder of just how demanding standards in Spain have become for the “new No. 7,” Lee Kang-in, 25, of Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid thrashed Man U 2-0 in the second league-phase match of the 2026–27 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (UCL), played at their home ground, the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, on the 14th (Korea time).
Lee Kang-in, who started the match, showed his quality less than a minute after kickoff. Around the 50-second mark of the first half, after receiving a pass from Cristian Romero near the halfway line, Lee easily evaded the opposition’s press and threaded a sublime lofted ball into the space behind Man U’s defense. The ball went through Alex Baena and led to Pablo Barrios’s opening and winning goal. It was not officially credited as an assist, but it was, in effect, the perfect starting point for the goal.
Spanish media also lavished praise on the moment. AS said, “Lee Kang-in thinks about football a beat ahead of everyone else,” and lauded his vision and genius for spotting Baena’s run precisely.

But that was as good as it got. After Lee left the pitch having played 61 minutes, leading Spanish publications seemed to act in concert, giving him the lowest rating on the team. Marca gave him one star, while AS awarded him one spade, also placing him joint-bottom on the team. ElDesmarque likewise gave him 5 out of 10, coolly noting, “He became the starting point for the opening goal with a fantastic pass in the first minute, but showed little after that.” The criticism was that while his one flash of brilliance stood out, his overall influence on the match was limited.
His statistics were by no means poor. According to football statistics site FotMob, Lee completed 91% of his passes (32 of 35), made two long passes and completed one dribble, showing solid reliability in possession and link-up play. For that reason, some outlets, such as Babel, gave him a respectable rating of 7.25.

Even so, the harsh assessments from mainstream outlets show how much stricter the standards applied to him have become. This summer, Lee left Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG) for Atletico Madrid and inherited the club legend Antoine Griezmann’s No. 7 shirt. Spanish football now expects him to do more than provide reliability or produce a single highlight: as an attacker, he is expected to exert commanding influence and dictate the flow of the match.
As it happens, Lee’s creativity—lavishly praised the previous day by “Korean football legend” Park Ji-sung, who called him “the most technically gifted player in Korean history”—was clearly on display within 50 seconds of the match against Man U. Lee’s remaining task is to make the magic count not just for one minute or 60, but to sustain its impact on the pitch for all 90 minutes.
[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter