Barcelona 2-2 Manchester United (Alonso 50′, Raphinha 76′ | Rashford 52′, Kounde 59′ og)
NOU CAMP — You can keep your Champions League, if this is what stacking European football’s secondary competition like it’s 1989 looks like. Thursday nights, Channel 5? You never saw anything like this there. At least not until after the weekend watershed.
Both Barcelona and Manchester United could have seen a Europa League playoff as an unhelpful naughty step, more sent to Coventry than “Road To Budapest”.
For United, the second leg immediately precedes their best chance to end their longest trophy drought in 40 years. In the space of less than 50 days, Barcelona have two two-legged ties against United and Real Madrid, another El Clasico in La Liga and four more league games.
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All Marcus Rashford's league goals this season as Man Utd forward continues resurgence16 February, 2023Not that this fixture will ever be anything less than stellar; giants can fall but history remains indelible. But it was with a little sigh of relief and a brief flutter of the heart that Messrs Ten Hag and Hernandez seemed entirely convinced of the benefits of European progress. It produced a second half for the ages and left the tie poised beautifully.
For the last 15 minutes, the Camp Nou was shaking, a sea of whistles and shrieks as Los Cules urged their team towards victory and defamed a referee who they unfairly believed stood in their way. The scoring sequence was perfect for that heady atmosphere to build, the home team ahead to raise the spirits, quickly behind to generate desperation and then surging back to end the game with constant pressure and noise. That last 45 minutes was as transfixing as anything else you’ll see all season.
Manchester United will be favourites next week; Erik ten Hag will believe they should have a lead to defend. Both Barcelona goals were avoidable: Fred lost his man on a looping, curling corner and Casemiro’s sloppy pass tossed away possession in his own half. For all that the obsession with playing out from the back has great merit, a holding midfielder playing blind passes under pressure remains the great weakness of the strategy.
Fred remains an expensive enigma, unpredictable but lovable. He is a one-man chaos theory, jumping into tackles when the ball could just be taken with ease and charging about like a man looking for his car keys when late for a very important date. He’s like the friend who tends to go a little wild on special occasions. Sometimes he’ll make it a night to remember and sometimes you’ll wonder why you invited him.
Sandwiched between those two goals, marvellous Marcus took several steps deeper into his own season mirabilis. Rashford scored one goal and assisted the other, taking him to 30 contributions this season. It is as if the World Cup in Qatar persuaded him of his own brilliance amid elite company and reinforced a deep desire to wrestle his career back his way.
IT'S MARCUS RASHFORD AGAIN!
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 16, 2023
The finish is a thing of beauty#UEL pic.twitter.com/Y2tUmaafx4
Believe it or not, there were times when this natural phenom was criticised as well as doubted. We need to pay no heed to the “stick to football” crowd because they don’t deserve the amplification, but any insinuation that Rashford was at fault for his dip is misplaced. He was played through injury, knocked off his stride by one manager who probably offered too little tactical instruction and another that probably offered too much.
Now we are seeing the best version of Rashford. Not the boy wonder, because this game is littered with too many of those who burned brightly but burned out quickly. But the man, who has learned from everything, swallowed it whole and became the type of consistent threat that Barcelona’s head coach describes as “one of the most dangerous players in Europe”. Who are we to argue with Xavi; he’s unlikely to change his mind after the first leg.
Rashford’s first was opportunistic, a rasped shot that caught Marc-Andre ter Stegen out at his near post. The second involved two pieces of cleverness; the timing of the run and the ball across the face of goal. Twelve months ago, Rashford might have lacked the confidence to even try taking on his man; now you just try and stop him. He’s leading this attack and this club. Anyone who cannot find joy in his recovery shouldn’t bother watching what will be a glorious second leg.
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