Man United failing to capitalise on vulnerable Barcelona could be the tie-deciding factor

Sooraj Kamath - Writer 16:37 11/04/2019
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  • It’s not often that Barcelona have an off day. It’s not often that Lionel Messi has an off day. But on Wednesday, the Catalan giants looked out of sorts after they netted an early goal to take the lead. Manchester United could have just missed a huge opportunity to book their spot in the semi-final after failing to capitalise on their lack of form.

    When Barcelona lost 4-0 away against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2016/17 season, they were suffocated and dominated in midfield, forced to play poor passes –often in their own half – and Messi was kept silent throughout the game. Also, unlike his usual self, Sergio Busquets was really lacklustre on the ball.

    On Tuesday, United managed to bring out the same version of Barcelona through intense pressing and midfield dominance. Fred and Scott McTominay ran the midfield show and pushed Barcelona deeper and deeper. Busquets – who has looked way off his usual brilliance this entire season – produced one of his worst performances.

    The fact that United failed to capitalise on Barcelona’s mistakes could very well turn out to be the turning point of the tie. The Red Devils were handed three golden chances in the opening period, with Busquets’ under-hit passes producing two of those. Marcus Rashford – who was expected be a menace for the Spanish giants – failed to make the best of any of the chances.

    Jordi Alba’s poor touch after he received the ball during a set-piece allowed Ashley Young to race down the wing and create a two-on-two opportunity. But the full-back squandered the chance with a poorly hit cross, similar to most of his deliveries on the night.

    Despite being on the front foot for the final 25 minutes, United failed to test Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The home side failed to register a single shot on target and that speaks volumes about their attack on the night.

    Winning the midfield battle against Barcelona is not easy and once a team manage to do so, they must ensure they finish the job. This has to be the most notable difference between the PSG side that defeated Barcelona 4-0 and the current United side that lost 1-0. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men squandered their chances and the consequence could prove to be more dire than they think.

    It’s worth noting that United had a week’s rest before the crucial game whereas Barcelona faced Atletico Madrid only on Saturday. An underwhelming Barcelona playing three days after engaging themselves in the most demanding fixture in the league were bound to be most vulnerable and United should have struck against a fatigued side.

    This weekend, Barcelona face bottom-placed Huesca and are hence present the luxury of rotation, especially with one hand on the trophy already. United – on the other hand – are still fighting for a top-four spot and will be under pressure to win against West Ham, a team they failed to beat in the reverse fixture back in September.

    Barcelona are a different beast at the Camp Nou, especially in Europe. They currently hold the record for the longest unbeaten streak at home in the Champions League at 30 games. The Spanish giants have not tasted defeat since their 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich in 2013.

    It would take something extra-terrestrial for United to progress to the last four of the competition. If they don’t, they have their performance in the first leg to blame.

    Whether they go down fighting or get hammered at the Camp Nou, failure to punish Barcelona when they were at their most vulnerable will go down as the turning point of the tie.

    Things would have been – and it can’t be stressed upon enough – completely different had United punished Barcelona’s mistakes in the first half.

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