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Half-time reading.
Half-time postbag. “I’ll be very surprised if we see Wout Weghorst on the pitch at the start of the second half. The formation is good, the idea is good, but the player’s ability isn’t up to the standard required to annoy Barcelona” – Matthew Lysaght
“Incredible to think that Barcelona are ahead of Madrid in La Liga after what Madrid did to Liverpool” – Jeff Sax
“This is the first time I’ve seen a referee wearing red socks to avoid a colour clash. When was this directive announced?” – Simon Frank
HALF TIME: Manchester United 0-1 Barcelona (agg 2-3)
An early chance for Bruno Fernandes aside, Barcelona have been much the better team. Erik ten Hag has some thinking to do.
45 min: United are so fortunate not to be two goals down. De Gea shanks a pass upfield straight to Roberto, who for a second is one on one with the keeper. He shoots, only for his effort to be blocked by the sliding Casemiro. The ball breaks to Kessie … and Casemiro blocks that one too! My word. Casemiro has kept United in this tie through determination alone, right on the stroke of half-time!
44 min: Nothing comes of the corner, so Casemiro played the percentages well.
43 min: De Jong curls the free kick towards the far post. Casemiro rises and heads behind for a corner. There were no Barca players near him, he could possibly have left that. But with his back to the action, he wasn’t taking any chances.
42 min: A 90-second period in which United can’t get out of their box. Barca pass and probe. United hold their shape well enough not to give up a shooting opportunity, but then Weghorst fails to control when there’s a chance to clear, then bowls over Kessie who nips in. Free kick just to the left of the D.
40 min: Raphinha one-twos in from the right with Roberto, before sending a rising shot deep into the Stretford End.
39 min: Lewandowski latches onto a loose ball in the centre circle. If he sees Raphinha on the right, he’ll surely send him clear on goal. But he doesn’t. United get away with a huge one.
37 min: Rashford dribbles down the left touchline and cuts infield, preparing to shoot. He’s unceremoniously – but fairly – crunched and dispossessed by Araujo.
35 min: Sancho drops deep and rolls a long pass down the right in the hope of releasing Fernandes into space. De Jong comes across to intercept and mop up without fuss. But it’s not long before he over-elaborates and ships possession. United drive forward through Wan-Bissaka, who thinks about a shot but thinks twice. He rolls right for Fred, who mishits a cross that floats over Ter Stegen’s head and briefly looks like sailing into the top left. Nope. Onto the top of the net it settles.
33 min: The pace of the game drops, and it all becomes a bit scrappy. Not sure who that benefits most. United possibly, giving the hosts time to gather themselves.
31 min: United are knocking it around nicely enough in the middle of the park. But nothing’s coming off in Barca’s final third. The visitors have looked fairly comfortable of late, one comically sliced Ter Stegen clearance apart.
29 min: Lewandowski heads a long ball down into Roberto’s path. The Barca forward is stopped in his tracks by … this isn’t even news any more … Martinez. He’s everywhere right now. Without him, United might be in a spot of scoreboard-related trouble.
27 min: Barca take the resulting free kick quickly and Kessie is nearly released into the United box down the left. Simple as that. Martinez comes across to perform his door-slamming act on the other wing this time. He is some battler.
26 min: Now Martinez gets stuck into Lewandowski’s ribs on the halfway line. A foul for Barcelona, and the home fans are getting irritated at what they consider overly fussy refereeing.
24 min: Raphinha makes good down the right and threatens to break into the box. Martinez makes a challenge that says NOPE in large capital letters and clears United’s lines. Barcelona are playing with confidence.
23 min: Martinez makes his way down the inside-left channel before swinging a long diagonal pass towards Fernandes, who aims a first-time volley towards the left-hand side of the net. He doesn’t quite connect and it’s easy for Ter Stegen. “Well, that was an interesting penalty kick by the Polish guy!” quips Mike MacKenzie, because somebody had to.
21 min: As Araujo gets some attention, Fernandes gets up in the referee’s grille. Is he discussing the penalty award? The non-award of a free kick for United? Both? It’s hard to tell. But it’s what he does. Then Araujo gets up. He’s fine to continue. Play restarts.
19 min: United attempt to hit back immediately, as Shaw barrels down the middle of the park at pace. He knocks the ball past Araujo and leaps into him. He wants a free kick on the edge of the D, but the referee waves play on … before stopping play so Araujo, crumped hard in the incident, needs a spot of treatment.
GOAL! Manchester United 0-1 Barcelona (Lewandowski 18 pen); agg 2-3
Weghorst takes an age to depart the box. Lewandowski, despite all of his experience, looks nervous. He makes a stuttering run-up before sending the penalty high and towards the top right. De Gea does exceptionally well to get a hand on it, but can’t quite make a sensational save, the ball coming off the inside of the post and in. Barca lead!
17 min: Balde went down extremely easily, but Fernandes had hold of his arm for way too long. VAR has a good look but isn’t going to overturn it.
Penalty for Barcelona!
15 min: Raphinha dribbles purposefully down the right. He dinks a cross into the middle. Varane eyebrows away from danger. The ball floats over Balde’s head. Balde turns and chases after it, only to be hauled down by Fernandes, who had hold of his arm. The referee points to the spot.
14 min: Rashford dribbles down the left and wins the first corner of the evening. It leads to nought, but the pendulum continues to swing back and forth at great speed.
13 min: Casemiro ships possession and Roberto nearly benefits by bursting into the box from the right. Martinez comes across to shepherd the ball out of play, and draw a foul from Roberto to boot. This is very open.
11 min: Raphinha’s delivery is no better than that of Fernandes a minute earlier.
10 min: Fernandes’ delivery gets lost in the post. But United come again, the rejuvenated Wan-Bissaka popping up on the left wing (!) and curling in a deep cross that floats out for a goal kick. Barca counter quickly, and Fred does to Balde what Kessie did to Casemiro seconds earlier. A free kick, just left of centre, 25 yards out.
9 min: Casemiro strides down the inside-right channel and draws a foul from a clumsy Kessie. If anyone knows how to press Barcelona’s buttons, it’ll be him. A free kick that gives United a chance to line up on the edge of the Barca box, awaiting Fernandes’ delivery.
7 min: It really is a fantastic atmosphere at Old Trafford. Plenty of old-fashioned roaring from all corners. The mood music is good. Whatever happens tonight, Manchester United feels like a club on an upward trajectory right now.
5 min: Rashford dribbles down the middle towards the Barca box and goes over Busquets’ leg. He wants a foul. He’s not getting one. I’ve seen a replay twice, and the first time it looked like Busquets caught him, the second like Rashford went over his foot far too easily. Who’d be a referee?
4 min: Barcelona, signally unruffled at giving up such a chance, go straight up the other end and nearly score themselves, Raphinha making good down the right and curling powerfully from 25 yards. Over the bar it flies. Signs already of the basketball rhythms that were a feature of the second half of the first leg. Lovely.
3 min: A huge early chance for United! Casemiro intercepts in the centre circle and immediately slips a pass down the inside-right channel to release Fernandes. He’s one on one with Ter Stegen! He tries to slot across the keeper, towards the bottom left-hand corner, but Ter Stegen makes himself big and sticks out a leg to block.
2 min: Both teams take turns to launch a quick probe. Then Shaw stands on Kounde’s foot causing the Barca right-back to holler loudly. He’s good to continue, but gives Shaw a frosty look as he gets up and jogs back to his position. One to keep an eye on.
Manchester United get the ball rolling. Barcelona will be kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.
The teams are out! Manchester United wear their famous red, which means Barcelona are forced into their second-choice butter-biscuit away strip. Gregg Wallace would doubtless approve. Plenty of noise pinging around the walls of Old Trafford, as you’d expect when two European giants get it on. This could be fun. In the meantime, here’s Peter Oh’s capsule preview: “Re: Xavi’s pre-match mental tiki-taka flourish of referring to Bruno Fernandes as ‘the Portuguese guy’. I reckon the visitors’ German guy between the sticks should be wary of the in-form English guy. But the Spanish guy in the home goal should not get too complacent, given the qualities of the Polish guy. Both sides boast some crafty Brazilian guys too, so pity the guys and gals watching who are trying to guess which guys will come out on top.” We’ll be off in a minute or three.
Last week was the first time Manchester United have drawn a first leg of a European tie away from home 2-2. They’ve recored a first-leg away draw on 17 other occasions in Uefa-approved competition, going on to win 12 of the 18 ties in total … but they lost the most recent, against Atletico Madrid in last season’s Champions League last 16.
Barca have been held to a draw at home in the first leg of a Uefa tie on 13 previous occasions. They’re only a smidge better than one in two going forward, having progressed in seven of those ties. They succeeded on that score twice in the Europa League last season, going through against Napoli and Galatasaray after first-leg home draws … and after their one and only first-leg home 2-2 draw, against PSV in the 1995-96 Uefa Cup quarter-finals, they advanced after a 3-2 win in Eindhoven.
In summary: both teams will surely reckon, on balance, that history is on their side. Or maybe not. The mind plays tricks sometimes.
The wonderfully no-nonsense Erik ten Hag speaks to BT Sport. “[The first leg] was a great game … toe to toe … I think today will be the same, toe to toe, and I am really looking forward … we have to bring it on the pitch and the energy will go over to the stand, a good connection, but first it’s up to us … we have so many games … from game to game there are tactical choices … Sunday is a big game but this is the first game so it is the most important game … so you pick a team but you can rotate … all of Europe is looking at this game tonight … it is like a Champions League game … we are really excited … Barcelona are normally really proactive so they play a high defensive line and give a lot of space away … normally we are really good at that, but you have to make the runs … if you see [Wout Weghorst’s] stats in all of the leagues he has played, he scores goals, so I am sure they will come … at the start of the season, Rashy didn’t score all that much, so it will come … all of a sudden he nets one and there will be more … he is making a lot of space for other players, what he is doing out of possession is magnificent … I am not thinking about [the takeover talk] at all, I am not focusing on that, it is for other people in the club … it is not up to me, I have to manage the team and make the team perform … that’s my job.”
Manchester United make one change to the starting XI named at Camp Nou. Lisandro Martinez is back from injury, so he takes up his place in the centre of the defence. Luke Shaw moves across to his usual left-back spot, replacing Tyrell Malacia, who drops to the bench.
Barcelona make four changes to their starting XI from last week’s first leg. Two are enforced – Pedri is injured and Gavi is suspended – while Marcos Alonso and Jordi Alba drop to the bench. Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, Andreas Christensen and Alejandro Balde take their places.
The teams
Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Fred, Casemiro, Fernandes, Rashford, Sancho, Weghorst.
Subs: Heaton, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia, Sabitzer, Dalot, Antony, Pellistri, Elanga, McTominay, Garnacho, Mainoo.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde, De Jong, Busquets, Kessie, Raphinha, Lewandowski, Roberto.
Subs: Peña, Tenas, Fati, Torres, Alonso, Alba, García, Casado, Torre.
Referee: Clément Turpin (France).
Preamble
The first leg at Camp Nou was one of the games of the season so far. More please!
Kick off at Old Trafford is 8pm GMT. It’s on!
English (US)