Five key stats ahead of Barcelona vs Manchester United

Barcelona will play one of their biggest fixtures of the season tonight as they face off against Manchester United in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League playoffs.

The Catalan giants were once again relegated from the Champions League to the Europa League as they finished third in their group. And, they will be facing the Red Devils in the playoffs, for a spot in the Round of 32.

Barcelona come into the game on the back of a 16-game unbeaten run in all competitions, with their latest match ending in a 1-0 victory away at Villarreal in La Liga.

Manchester United will pose a stern test to Xavi Hernandez’s men tonight, but form and history on Barcelona’s side heading into the match.

Indeed, Barcelona have never lost in their five matches against Manchester United that have been played at Camp Nou (W3 D2). The Catalans have kept a clean sheet in four of those games.

Furthermore, the Blaugrana have not lost a match against an English opponent since 2007, when they were beaten by Liverpool. Since then, Barça have faced six different English clubs – Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham – in 13 games, winning nine (D4).

But, Barcelona will have to be wary of the threat posed by Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, who has been in stunning form this season.

Indeed, Rashford has scored 13 goals in all competitions since club football resumed after the FIFA World Cup 2022, at least three more than any other player in the top five European leagues (Karim Benzema – 10).

Another concern for Barcelona heading into tonight’s match would be Xavi’s poor record at home in European competitions. While the Catalans have been near-unbeatable at Camp Nou in La Liga, the same cannot be said of them in Europe.

Since Xavi took over the reins of the club in November 2021, Barça have won just one of their seven home matches in European competitions, which came against Viktoria Plzen this season. They have lost two games and drawn four during this run.

Interestingly, this will be Robert Lewandowski’s first-ever match against Manchester United. Indeed, he has never faced the Red Devils with any of his clubs in an official competition be it Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, or Lech Poznan.

The Barcelona hitman has an impressive record against English clubs, though, having chalked up a tally of ten goals and seven assists in 17 games.