Manchester United 2-1 Barcelona ( Fred 47′, Antony 73′ | Lewandowski 18′ pen) Man Utd advance 4-3 on aggregate
OLD TRAFFORD — We have been skirting around the issue for several months, but having beaten the best team in Spain, taking the game to them with an intensity rarely seen at Old Trafford for the best part of a decade, there can be no doubting Manchester United are well and truly back.
For much of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, whenever United came up against teams of Barcelona’s calibre – occasions that have got rarer and rarer as the years have gone by – they have almost always looked out of their depth, very much a fallen giant with a long way to go to rekindle anything like their former grandeur.
In a first half dominated by Barcelona on Thursday night, as the Spaniards had one foot in the Europa League last 16, perhaps for all their recent progress such a tussle was a step too far over two legs for United.
More from Football
Antony delivers, Casemiro pure class, box-to-box Fred - Man Utd 2-1 Barcelona player ratings23 February, 2023
How England's new football regulator will work, from takeover rules to fan engagement23 February, 2023
Motty's death feels deeply personal - he was the soundtrack to my childhood23 February, 2023A storming second-half comeback, with goals from Brazilian duo Fred and Antony sending United through and ensuring they remain the only team in Europe’s top-five leagues competing for four trophies, told a very different story. The only way is up, it seems, for Erik ten Hag’s resurgent troops.
Big European nights against Barcelona are etched on several generations of United supporters’ memories. Anyone born in the 1950s and 1960s still takes great pleasure in reliving Bryan Robson’s heroics at Old Trafford in the 1984 Cup Winners Cup, while millennials need no excuse to gush about Paul Scholes’ thunderbolt in the Champions League semi-final victory in 2008.
Gen Z streaming in ahead of kick-off were hoping for an encounter that would leave a similar mark. Even if the stage was more back of a pub in the Europa League play-offs, the first leg was sensational, two teams properly going at each other with a verve not seen in both sides for quite some time. It left the tie tantalising poised for a real epic in under the lights.
Ten Hag even went as far as saying the “whole world will want to watch” in is pre-match programme notes.
Old Trafford at its finest
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 23, 2023
Listen to the noise as a memorable European night comes to a close…#UEL pic.twitter.com/NjdMpEY8fk
The first half, just like the first leg, was something of a slow burner, however. The roof nearly came off early on as a sweeping pass from Casemiro found Bruno Fernandes, again deployed wide right where he can be even more devastating, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen kept the Portuguese’s drilled effort out.
With United looking in command their game plan was quickly ripped up as referee Clement Turpin ruled Fernandes to have fouled Alejandro Balde in the penalty area and awarded a spot kick.
Man Utd player ratings
- Varane 8
- Casemiro 8
- Fred 8
- Rashford 6
- Antony 8
View Michael Hincks’ full player ratings here.
United players were incredulous, feeling they had been victim of a robbery that Clement’s distant relative Dick would have been proud of. Robert Lewandowski just squeezed the spot-kick home.
Erik ten Hag came into the United job wanting Frenkie de Jong to control the midfield at Old Trafford, and that is exactly what happened for the rest of the opening period as the Dutchman and Sergio Busquets dictated the tempo and did not give United an inch.
A team of Barcelona’s calibre were perhaps too much for Wout Weghorst, with the giant hitman withdrawn at the break in favour of Antony, a switch that brought Fernandes back into the middle.
Such a move immediately paid dividends as Fernandes squared for Fred, who took a superb first touch before firing in, off his shin, from the edge of the box.
David de Gea was then at it again as he superbly tipped Jules Kounde’s header over. Recently, De Gea’s heroics have often preceded something special down the other end, and that is what Old Trafford got as a superb finish from the much-maligned Antony completed a stunning turnaround.
Antony’s critics cite his inability to use his right foot, but when you can control a strike like he did with 17 minutes to go, to send Barcelona crashing out of European competition without having reached the last 16 for the first time since 1985, with his left, the right leg can be used for standing on only.
Barca threw everything at United late on, but Ten Hag’s team are built differently. They will fancy their chances of securing a first trophy since 2017 in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, but it may not be the only piece of silverware this new and improved United have in the hands come the end of the season.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/T9i50Wt
Post a Comment