Manchester United will face off in opposition to Barcelona in a highly-anticipated UEFA Europa League knockout spherical playoff second-leg contest on the iconic Old Trafford stadium on Thursday evening.
Last Thursday, the primary leg between the English and Spanish sides led to a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou.
Both sides have appeared in good condition of their respective leagues recently, as Barca stands on the prime of La Liga standings after their 2-0 victory in opposition to Cadiz, whereas the Red Devils climbed to the No. 3 spot within the Premier League after their 3-0 win over Leicester City.
“Yes, we should have won (the first leg), but we have steps to go,” Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag stated. “We have two good teams at the highest level; it was a really high performance level and I was really pleased with the performance from my team.”
Former Barcelona legend Xavi, now the Spanish aspect’s head coach, praised the opposition’s counter-attacking play.
“They play marvelous counter-attacking football, Rashford getting in behind, Bruno (Fernandes) finding long passes,” Xavi stated. “We wanted to mature the match (in the first leg), calm things down from the constant end to end, but United are very good at playing how they want to.”
Manchester aspect midfielders Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek will likely be unavailable within the upcoming Europa League recreation resulting from accidents. Brazilian winger Anthony and French attacker Anthony Martial’s inclusion within the Barcelona recreation squad can also be uncertain.
Due to accidents, Spanish Midfielder Pedri and French winger Ousmane Dembele can even be unavailable for the Barca recreation squad.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
