Barcelona 2-2 Manchester United: Match Review

Barcelona hosted Manchester United in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 on Thursday night. The misplaced tie proved to be a thriller all along and lived up to its billing and pre-match hype with nail-biting action.

The controversy began well before the game when Xavi Hernandez’s decision to start Marcos Alonso in place of the in-form Andreas Christensen raised several eyebrows. Further, the manager opted to deploy Jordi Alba ahead of Alejandro Balde.

The game began and continued in a series of possession clusters that alternated between the two teams. Throughout the opening half, Barcelona and Manchester United shifted attacking periods in a fashion that almost appeared pre-planned.

It was Erik Ten Hag’s men who dominated the opening period and put Barcelona on an instant backfoot with a wonderful chance in the seventh minute.

It was only around the tenth-minute mark that the hosts got away with their first action in the opposition’s territory. Alba’s pass was well left by Gavi, but Lewandowski’s shot was saved by De Gea.

It was Barcelona’s bullish period over the next 20 minutes as the hosts strung together good passes and held onto the possession. However, it was glaringly evident that the Catalans were perturbed by United’s voracious press.

Ten Hag’s men had close to five great opportunities between minutes 25 and 35, and it was only Marc Andre ter Stegen’s heroics that kept the scoresheet unopened.

The visitors’ promising run began with Weghorst’s 1v1 chance against the German shot-stopper that was saved before the goalkeeper sprung into action again to deny Casemiro.

His biggest save, undoubtedly, was to deny Marcus Rashford with his fingertips after the Englishman got the better of Alonso.

The final ten minutes of the half, once again, belonged to Barcelona. The period of dominance began with Jordi Alba’s run into the English box which he could not convert after being taken down by Wan Bissaka. Denied the penalty, the Azulgranas won a series of corner kicks that came to nothing.

Heading into the tunnel at half-time, Manchester United were the happier side with more chances under their belt. Xavi had to make changes in his setup, especially after Pedri went off injured for Sergi Roberto in the 41st minute.

Barcelona got the ball moving in the second half and almost got into the scoresheet through a spectacular Raphinha volley in the 46th minute. Almost immediately, a series of mistakes almost cost them at the other end.

Almost as if predestined, it was Alonso, whose start puzzled fans across the globe, who gave Barcelona the lead with a simple header past De Gea from a corner in the 50th minute.

In less than two minutes, Marcus Rashford unbelievably squeezed the ball into the near post beyond Ter Stegen to level the scoresheet.

In the 58th minute, United took the lead through an unfortunate Kounde own-goal after a great cross from Rashford.

Xavi brought on Ansu Fati, Alejandro Balde and Andreas Christensen for Franck Kessie, Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso in the 66th minute.

Raphinha’s cross found itself between the defenders and Lewandowski, but eventually found its way in as nobody took a touch.

Ferran Torres replaced Raphinha in the 82nd minute.

Barcelona hit the post with four minutes to go in a move that deserved to end in the back of the net. Seconds later, Ansu Fati was millimetres from scoring the winner.

Barcelona made a desperate push in the dying minutes to take the lead but could not do so despite creating chances galore.

The 2-2 scoreline takes the game into the second leg at Old Trafford with neither of the sides claiming advantage. Barcelona may have been the slightly outdone side on the night, but with parity set at the game, anything could happen next week in Manchester.