Barcelona down Man United 1-0 at Old Trafford
Luis Suarez - Barcelona
The Spanish champions Barcelona visited Old Trafford to face Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League quarter final tie. This was Barcelona’s 12th straight quarter final tie, which is a record. On the other hand, Man United have never lost a home match in the UEFA Champions League against Barcelona.
The Catalan giants are huge favourites to progress to the next round and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as expected, fielded a team set to defend for their lives while Barcelona Manager Ernesto Valverde fielded an attacking starting XI.
Man United Startling XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Dalot, McTominay, Fred, Pogba, Lukaku, Rashford
Barcelona Startling XI: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Busquets, Arthur, Rakitic, Coutinho, Messi, Suarez
Manchester United earned an early free kick in a promising spot for Busquet’s foul on McTominay. Rashford stepped up for the free kick but his shot was atleast a good two feet wide as well as high. The way Barcelona were dominating the possession, it was clear that a goal was coming. In the 12th minute, Messi got rid of the man marking him inside the box and received a lofted pass from Busquets. The Argentine maestro chipped the ball to the far-post and Suarez headed it in. The linesman flagged it for offside but with VAR’s assistance, the goal stood. Suarez’s header got a deflection of Luke Shaw before hitting the back of the net and was declared an own goal.
In the middle of the first half, United had a penalty appeal that got turned down by the referee. McTominay tried to cut-in and went to the ground in the process. There was negligible contact from Pique before Scott McTominay hit the floor. The referee probably thought there wasn’t enough contact for a penalty. Right after that, Smalling’s arm hit Messi in his face in a coming together incident, which resulted in a bloody nose for the Barcelona talisman and the play was halted for a minute.
A couple of minutes later, Man United defenders circles Luis Suarez in the box and with his back turned, the Uruguyan striker passed the ball to rushing Coutinho who striked the ball sweetly but De Gea reacted quickly to make a sharp save. Barcelona ended the first half with a mammoth 67% possession and Man United are yet to trouble Ter Stegen.
Manchester United started the second half brightly and the game was contested at a faster pace. In the 54th minute, Rashford had a fantastic opportunity after Pogba’s penalty appeal was rejected. Ter Stegen tried to handle a cross by punching the ball. The ball came straight to Rashford who was just 12 yards from goal but the English attacker’s volley was off-target.
Semedo launched Luis Suarez through on goal with a beautiful short pass piercing open United’s defence but the striker’s powerful shot from a tight angle only managed to hit the side-net on the outside. Barcelona’s pressure was on the rise and De Gea was called into action yet again. The United number one had to get down in time to save Alba’s strike.
Valverde made a double change and brought in Alex Vidal and Sergi Roberto in place of Coutinho and Arthur to solidify their lead. Solskjaer responded by replacing Lukaku with Anthony Martial. Vidal picked up a yellow a few minutes after coming on for a challenge on Fred. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his second substitution of the game by bringing on Lingard in place of Dalot and changed the formation of his side to 4-3-3 in a desperate attempt to find the equalizer.
Pogba brought Semedo down in the 81st minute just outside the box. Messi stepped up to take the free kick and his shot was struck low. De Gea was helped by a deflection from his wall that gave him the time and space to make a comfortable save. Ole made his final substitution by sending in Perreira for Rashford. Seconds later, Smalling picked up a yellow for shoving Suarez needlessly but the referee was bit harsh there.
Man United couldn’t find the equalizer and their crossing let them down the whole game but Barcelona deservedly take a 1-0 lead to the second leg to be played at the Camp Nou. This is Barcelona’s first away win at Old Trafford against Manchester United. Elsewhere, Dutch side Ajax FC drew with Juventus 1-1. David Neres’ goal in the second half cancelled out Ronaldo’s first half strike.
LosMejor's Editorial Team includes a team of experts who cover the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. The Editorial team is headed by Deepak Selvan.
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