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Hello. How do you follow up a miracle? Maybe by beating the team powered by Lionel Messi. Manchester United can always look back fondly on a thrilling night in Paris in the last round but they have lost three of their four matches since then and there is a risk of their sensational comeback against Paris Saint-Germain being recorded by historians as the set-up to an epic humiliation at the hands of Barcelona. Unless, of course, United actually overcome today’s visitors to Old Trafford, which would mean surpassing anything they have done so far under Ole Gunnar Solskjær or, indeed, Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal. United haven’t even been at this stage of the Champions League since the glory, glory days of David Moyes.
Today United are going to have to strike a dicey balance. They will want to get at least a narrow lead to take to the Nou Camp and that will require scoring, something they have only managed once in four Champions League matches at Old Trafford this season. But they won’t want to leave themselves too open, otherwise Barça could kill the tie with a salvo of away goals. Solskjær must know, however, that no matter how he approaches the game, Barcelona are capable of tearing his defence apart. And Barcelona know the importance of an away goal, because failure to score even one has led to them being eliminated at this stage of the competition in each of the last three years. That fact alone shows that Barça are not quite as mighty as they once were, but they’re still pretty darn good. And they’ll still got Messi. And Luis Suarez, who, you’ve got to think, would take much pleasure in scoring at Old Trafford. David De Gea is going to have to be in top form. And so, too, is Paul Pogba. The eyes of the world, including Real Madrid, are on him. So then, to quote Chris Smalling, bring it on.
Written by Paul Doyle
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2019/apr/10/manchester-united-v-barcelona-champions-league-quarter-final-first-leg-live under the title “Manchester United v Barcelona: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – live!”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
