Match Day Thread Manchester United v Barcelona

Champions league, last eight, first leg.
Tonight, at Old Trafford.

Kick off at 20.00.

May God be with us.

 

Sympathy post.

 

I predict a riot.

Matic, McTominey and Mike Smalling vs Messi and Suarez.

 

I miss Fellaini - on nights like this he could elbow Messi out of the game.

 

That's harsh on Fellaini. In the CL, I like him for his mazy runs at the opposition...

 

Right, **** it going to predict 2-1 to United.

 

If Ole thinks we have any realistic chance of progressing then his priority tonight is to deny Barca the away goal(s) - that means a defensive set-up and a different style of play than OT has seen under Ole so far. If that's his decision then I hope the match-day fans respect it and don't give the team a hard time. If he goes down that route and we can take a 0 - 0 scoreline to Barcelona then we can give it a go, nothing whatsoever to lose.

If he goes for it tonight with all guns blazing we risk being suckered on away goals and the tie will be well and truly over.

I'm going for 0 - 0, not what we're used to but it gives us a decent chance to nick a goal at theirs.

 

Come to think of it, he's way too tall to even elbow Messi's head. Messi is only 4ft tall.

 

1-4

 

Inviting pressure against Barca by just sitting back in numbers is going to be a long night and a recipe for disaster imo. It will be wave after wave of onslaught. Not good.

 

Good luck tonight.

Barca are always a tough ask, but even in their 4-2 win
at Spurs their CM did not look impervious when facing a
quite weak Spurs MF

Perhaps you can give them enough of a typical physical
PL MF tussle without them being protected by UEFA
refs (Citeh were not picking up cards all over the place
yesterday) , and disrupt their attacking game.

 

comn UTD

 

I think we beat them last time back in 2007 or was it 2008 this way . and this is how Chelsea beat them even with 10 men at last stages of this competition some years ago
if we can close them down and counter attack them then we will have bigger chance
last thing I want is to give Messi space at the back by trying to attack ..
we need to play to our strength and we are only good in countering ... we are not Barca mate

I will take 1-0 win without an away goal advantage

 

I don't disagree we should play counter attack, but if (and I'm not sure we will) have 9/10 players defending around our box there'll be no counter attack.

We also don't have the likes of Rio, Vidic, Brown, Carrick, Fletcher to really do the job we did in 2008.

 

Team news - three at the back and two up front - game on.

 

Far from convinced about Fred, but Young is there behind him, so there is cover, plus Lingard on the bench. Dalot tucked into midfield could well be a revelation, he has the ability to take the ball forward, plus he's a tough bastard and he can help cover for Shaw if needed. Game on.

 

Surely not.

 

Whatever happens tonight this is what's so refreshing about Ole...

"United against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals. This is what this competition is all about and what this club is all about.

“The staff, the players and supporters have been ready for this tie ever since the draw was made. This club lives for testing itself against the very best teams in the world and we want to be in this competition every single season.

“It would be easy to talk about how good they are but make no mistakes – they’ll be looking at our team knowing that we can cause them problems. Barcelona know that nothing is beyond us, I think it’s important that we recognise that as well.”

 

With three 'centre halves' (can this really be said of Young?) surely Herrera would be better than McTominay operating in front of them?

Must be that injury!

 

I like Dalot, plays without fear. Worried about Fred.