(Football news) Having etched their names in the UEFA Champions League, it’s quite telling about the decline FC Barcelona and Manchester United have experienced in recent years as they are going head-to-head in the Europa League first leg play-off. The Catalan giants finished third in their Champions League group behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan while the Red Devils finished second in their group in the Europa League, prompting both sides to compete across two legs for a place in the Europa League.
Barcelona have been in fantastic form domestically and are currently unbeaten across 16 games in all competitions which includes nine wins in their last 10 La Liga games. With Real Madrid experiencing a recent blip, Xavi’s side have a massive 11 point lead in the La Liga and remain on course to win the title for the first time in four years. The prospect of winning a European title, even if it’s the Europa League, will be enough to motivate Xavi to field his strongest possible lineup. Barcelona have already won the Spanish Super Cup, which means the possibility of a treble could be on the cards if they manage to defeat Manchester United and remain in the Europa League.
The Catalan giants will head into their match against Manchester United with some swagger, having already defeated the Red Devils in each of their last four meetings. Victories in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League final along with a 4-0 aggregate win in the quarterfinals of the 2019 season means that Xavi has plenty of experience dealing with the Red Devils, only this time it will be from the dugout. Manchester United’s last goal at the Camp Nou was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s historic winner in the 1999 Champions League final, a shocking statistic to say the least.
The Red Devils began their Europa League campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad but have won five consecutive games in the competition since then, but were forced to settle for second place in the group stage. Erik ten Hag’s side are competing in all competitions so far, being the only Premier League team to do so and there has been a massive improvement in the team since the early season blip. Manchester United have lost just four of their 16 away matches in all tournaments this season but have a poor record against Spanish opposition, winning only three of their last 14 such knockout fixtures in European competition.
In team news, Barcelona will be without Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Busquets due to hamstring and ankle injuries which means one of Gavi, Ferran Torres or Ansu Fati could operate on the left flank. Xavi is expected to go with Frank Kessie alongside Frenkie de Jong and Pedri in midfield and is unlikely to make many changes but he may consider replacing Alejandro Balde with experienced left-back Jordi Alba.
For Manchester United, Donny van de Beek (knee), Christian Eriksen (ankle), Anthony Martial (hip), Scott McTominay (muscle) and Antony (leg) will be unavailable for selection while Lisandro Martinez and new signing Marcel Sabitzer are suspended. The good news is that Casemiro will feature in the lineup after missing the last two Premier League fixtures due to suspension and will partner alongside Fred in midfield. Raphael Varane is expected to feature at centre back while Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst and Bruno Fernandes could feature in attack.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Alba; Pedri, De Jong, Kessie; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Gavi
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Shaw, Malacia; Casemiro, Fred; Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford; Weghorst
Also read: Borussia Dortmund defeated Chelsea in Champions League knockout round
