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Manchester United traveled to the Camp Nou with the impossible in their mind once again. United had never beaten Barcelona at the Camp Nou, even though the Stadium has been the site of one of the club's most historic nights. But on Tuesday, Solskjaer's men had to create history themselves and win against Barcelona to progress into the Semifinals.
The Red Devils had succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in the home leg of the tie and as such, had another mountain to climb. But with Lionel Messi leading the opposition charge, Solskjaer knew that it was going to be a tough task. Yet, the Norwegian was pretty aggressive in his team selection, even ditching the back 5 for a more traditional back 4.
Solskjaer started with De Gea in goal, with Jones, Smalling, Lindelof, and Young as the back four. In the middle, McTominay returned to join Fred and Pogba, while the front three comprised of Lingard, Rashford, and Martial.
United started the game on a bright note and could have even scored the opening goal, had Rashford been a little more composed. However, Barcelona took over the reins in time and took the lead through Lionel Messi in the 16th minute. 4 minutes later, the Argentinean had doubled Barcelona's lead, although with a helping hand from De Gea.
United failed to improve their performance in the second half and in the 61st minute, Coutinho made it 3-0 and took the game away from United.
Manchester United had a night to forget at the Camp Nou, but these 5 players were especially poor and cost the Red Devils the game.
#5 Scott McTominay
The youngster had been one of the standout performers in the home leg. Even though United had lost the game, Scott McTominay had impressed with his all-round performance. As such, his inclusion in the team was justified. The youngster was expected to continue his good form alongside Fred, but on the field, what happened was entirely different.
McTominay started the game well and even found himself in the box in the opening stages. However, as United failed to find the opening goal, the youngster went missing. Fred was overpowered in the midfield because McTominay was always out of position. The youngster was far from the dominant force in the midfield that he was expected to be. Instead, he had a night of meek surrender, where he neither had an impact going forward nor did he help his defenders out.
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#4 Jesse Lingard
Jesse Lingard’s inclusion in the team was bizarre, especially since the Englishman had failed to impress in recent weeks. Lingard had been extremely poor in last weekend’s tie against West Ham as well, and as such, he was expected to stay on the bench. Lukaku would have been the better choice, but Solskjaer had a tactical plan in mind for Lingard, which is why he was preferred.
The Norwegian deployed the Englishman as a false 9 and expected him to work on Busquets and Arthur. In truth, Lingard was largely a spectator who displayed the difference in quality between the two teams. The Englishman had no effect going forward and failed to stop Arthur or Busquets from dictating the game. His passing was poor and even when he drifted to the right, the Englishman could hardly impact the game.
It was clear that Lukaku would have been the better choice and Lingard proved that with his performance on the night.
#3 Marcus Rashford
The Englishman could have given United a vital advantage as early as the first minute when he was put in on goal by Pogba. United started the game in a blistering pace, which caught Barcelona off guard.
Pogba worked the ball around well and placed it on a platter for Rashford, who broke the offside trap and had Ter Stegen at his mercy. But the United striker tried to be too clever, attempting to chip the ball where placement was required. It bounced off the upright and United missed a glorious opportunity.
However, it was not the only time that Rashford disappointed. The striker has recently been guilty of developing a selfish nature and it was evident in one counter-attack. United broke away in speed, and Rashford ran at the Barcelona defense, attacking quite a lot of attention.
Martial was through on the left and the pass would have been the correct choice. However, Rashford ignored the pass and tried another outrageous volley, which turned out to be a tame purr at Ter Stegen.
The Englishman had the chances to made a difference, but his immaturity and poor finishing cost United. Had he scored within the first 20 seconds, United would have found the perfect launch pad to go on a win the game.
#2 David De Gea
It is not always that you can blame David De Gea for United’s misfortunes. The Spaniard has been exceptional for United and has often singlehandedly won his team the game. Unfortunately, this season, De Gea has been far from his best and against Barcelona at Nou Camp, his error had a huge impact on the outcome of the game.
For the first goal, there isn’t much that the Spaniard could have done. Lionel Messi skipped past Young, Jones, and Smalling as if there weren’t even there on the field and then curved the ball into the far corner, just beyond the diving De Gea. If the first goal was a pure genius from the Argentine, the second was a howler from United’s Spanish goalkeeper.
Barcelona broke free from the midfield and ran at United. Messi found the ball near the box and ran at the goal. He then aimed a soft hit from his right from towards De Gea, more in hope than in expectation. Sadly, the Spaniard allowed the ball to go under him and into the goal.
De Gea did try to redeem himself with a decent clearance late in the first half, but by then, the damage had been done. And he could do nothing for Coutinho’s goal either.
#1 Ashley Young
Ashley Young’s selection is an enigma, given how poor the Englishman has been for United on a regular basis this season. Young was a disappointment in the first leg as well, but Solskjaer still opted to keep him in the first eleven. A reason for that could have been Luke Shaw’s absence and the fact that Dalot had failed to impress from the left side in the home leg.
Nevertheless, Young started from the left, with the captain’s armband, but had a night to forget. He rarely joined Martial in attack, perhaps wary of Lionel Messi giving him the slip in the counter. This affected United’s gameplay, as Martial was isolated in the left. However, the United skipper was disappointing with his defensive responsibilities too.
Young was directly culpable for the first goal, when he lost the ball at a dangerous position and of all people, to Lionel Messi. The Argentinean accepted it with open arms and then Young resorted to a poor attempt at winning the ball back. Messi brushed his tackle aside and went on to score the opening goal.
Young failed as a Skipper on the field and as a left back too and cost United the game.
