Barca were poor, and looked sluggish in that second half, but they still had the better chances in the game. United, to be fair to them, were trying to force the issue in the second half. But I think this is where their lack of quality became evident. Rashford was wasteful. Lukaku was holding the ball up well and doing the ugly stuff, but barely had a sniff in the penalty area. Martial wasn't that effective either. Pique and Lenglet dealt with pretty much everything they had to. This was a huge opportunity for United to take advantage of Barca's profligacy. They didn't do it. I can't see them being that poor in the second leg. Difficult to see beyond Barca progressing through to the semi-finals.
Ashley Young was ****ing awful too, by the way. One of the worst performances at this level I've seen. Can't cross for ****. And kept losing the ball. How he still plays for Man United is a mystery. Long may it continue though!
Roll on Saturday against Huddersfield, I think the boys are just as raring to go as I am to watch it.
It was a poor game for sure and for all their supposed possession Utd didn't manage a single decent chance. I thought Pique was excellent and demonstrated a real (surprising) turn of speed that nullified any threat from Rashford. Barca are a club still in transition and well off their best. My best mate is a season ticket holder and very frustrated with the recent performances, despite winning. Coach Valverde is not popular, particularly for not picking Sergi Roberto, but didn't think he looked particularly special when he came on last night. Semeda however, looks really decent. As Brian said, a fan of the other 6 wouldn't be too fearful of drawing either Utd or FCB in the next round.
You can only measure a team on its last performance which is why I'm waiting fervently to see how our opponents in the CL do this weekend. We'll be able to judge more clearly.
Long overdue (as Costa is an utter c**t) , but unlikely to have material cost to Atletico (not qualifying for the CL next season etc) .
Costa's probably due about a season's worth of suspensions, but that seems a little excessive when compared to what normally happens. Until you look at who he was sent off against and where Atletico are in the table, anyway...
