Manchester United vs Barcelona (Thursday, 1.30 AM)
Days after locking horns within the first leg of the Europa League Round of 32 at Camp Nou, fallen giants Barcelona and Manchester United will renew hostilities as soon as once more. Their battleground this time: The legendary Old Trafford.
Last week, United have been like a group possessed once they dragged out a 2-2 draw towards the Catalan membership even after going 0-1 all the way down to former Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso’s pinpoint header. If it was the Manchester United of the previous few seasons, they might roll over and concede a couple of instances extra with out even having the composure or penetrating energy to get again within the match. But this United underneath Erik Ten Hag is a special beast altogether.
Channeling the never-give-up spirit of the Red Devils of yore, United ripped by Barcelona’s protection and went 2-1 up in a jiffy, courtesy of a scorching Marcus Rashford and an personal objective from Barca defender Jules Kounde. They would in the end concede from a Raphinha marvel objective however didn’t give an inch to their adorned opponents all through the remainder of the match.
Barcelona would have a flurry of assaults proper on the loss of life with the Spanish facet coming very near wrapping up the match however by some means, United survived that onslaught.
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, centre, celebrates after scoring his facet’s second objective throughout the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Leicester City on the Stamford Bridge stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
United have a close to good residence file within the Europa League with the one blip being their loss towards Real Sociedad again in September. Barcelona, in the meantime, have misplaced 2 away video games and gained 1 in Europe this season.
To make issues worse, the Blaugrana need to journey to England with out their midfield generals Gavi and Pedri, with the previous out because of suspension and the latter coping with an damage which he suffered within the first leg. These are simply the most recent addition of gamers within the sidelines for Barca with Sergio Busquets and Ousmane Dembele each more likely to be unavailable once more after lacking out on the earlier encounter.
United however can rely on the providers of World Cup profitable defender Lisandro Martinez and on-loan midfielder Marcel Sabitzer, each of whom needed to sit out the Nou Camp match because of suspensions. Playmaker Christian Eriksen would be the solely enormous miss for the Red Devils with the midfielder out until early April however the group have a correct substitute within the type of Sabitzer.
Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen, left, Ronald Araujo, middle, and Gavi are seen after the tip of the Europa League playoff first leg soccer match between Barcelona and Manchester United on the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. The sport ended 2-2. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)
The United outfit is brimming with confidence in the mean time which has been translating into the performances of the primary man Marcus Rashford. Playing with a spring in his step after a really very long time, Rashford is a person reborn underneath Ten Hag. The composure and the precision he confirmed whereas scoring United’s opening objective, that too from a close to inconceivable angle, is a ability solely a participant with the utmost assuredness may even try, not to mention rating. Coming into Thursday’s conflict with one other match profitable efficiency towards Leicester City over the weekend, the place he scored a brace, Barcelona protection have to be cautious of a participant functioning on the peak of his powers.
United had saved Robert Lewandowski uncharacteristically quiet within the Nou Camp however they are going to be delusional to be complacent. Along with Raphinha, the one participant who really regarded harmful coming towards the united backline within the first leg, the Polish striker will look to translate his La Liga kind to his European outings sooner fairly than later.
