Barca crushed Man Utd at the Theatre of Dreams.
(Baonghean.vn) - The Catalan team broke their jinx at Man Utd's home ground with a 1-0 victory on the evening of April 11th.
The draw has pitted two world football powerhouses against each other in the quarter-finals, and of course, no one wants to be eliminated when glory is so close.
In this match, Man United will be playing at home at Old Trafford, giving Solskjaer's team the opportunity to create as much of an advantage as possible against the Spanish side, aiming for a favorable result in the return leg at Camp Nou.
But in reality, it was very difficult for Man United to dominate the game against the Spanish representative.
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| Messi and Suarez celebrate as Barca take the lead. |
Right after the opening whistle, Barcelona took control of the game and launched high-speed attacks.
In the 12th minute of the match, Barcelona opened the scoring after Busquets played a delicate through ball to Messi, who broke free. After controlling the ball, the Argentine superstar delivered a precise cross for Suarez to execute a skillful header from a tight angle, finding the back of the net against Manchester United.
However, just minutes later, the referee determined that Barcelona's goal came from an own goal by Luke Shaw.
In the first half, Barcelona held possession for 76%. Busquets and Arthur's excellent control of the game's tempo prevented Manchester United from utilizing their preferred counter-attacking style of play. Statistics show that Barcelona completed approximately 300 passes, double that of Manchester United.
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| Rashford missed several scoring opportunities for Manchester United in the match against Barcelona. Photo: Getty |
In the first half, Man United also created a few chances, but both Rashford and Fred's shots lacked accuracy.
Entering the second half, coach Solskjae instructed his players to push forward in an attempt to equalize the score.
And indeed, in the first 20 minutes of the second half, the home team's play improved. At times, Man United completely dominated the game, but their penetrating passing combinations lacked the speed and unpredictability to break through Barcelona's defense.
While pushing forward in attack, Man United nearly conceded another goal when, in the 65th minute, Semedo cleverly threaded a pass through Suarez, who made a smart run, but his final shot narrowly missed the post.
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| Manchester United's defense had a tough day trying to prevent Barcelona's forwards from scoring. (Photo: Getty) |
As the match drew to a close, the Manchester United players showed increasing impatience, rushing to shoot in situations where they should have been playing together. And the shots from the Manchester United players in this match were completely harmless and failed to create any real danger for goalkeeper Ter Stegen of the visiting team: Rashford's free kick from outside the penalty area is a prime example.
It's impossible to say that Manchester United didn't play well in this match; on the contrary, they played very well against Barcelona and had several chances in the first half and the first half of the second with Paul Pogba's exquisite passes. However, Manchester United's attack had a terrible day, failing to capitalize on opportunities and shooting inaccurately.
At Old Trafford, Manchester United suffered a 0-1 defeat against Barcelona. This loss makes the chances of turning the tables in Spain very slim. However, everything is still ahead, and there are still many opportunities for the Red Devils.
Goal scorer:
Luke Shaw (12', own goal)
Starting lineup:
Man United:De Gea, Ashley Young, Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw, Dalot, McTominay, Fred, Pogba, Rashford, Lukaku.
barbecue:Ter Stegen, Semedo, Piqué, Lenglet, Jordi alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur, Coutinho, Messi, Luis Suárez.
