Barcelona and Manchester United square off in the first leg of the Europa League knockout round playoff game of the season.
The teams meet because Barcelona finished third in their Champions League group, behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, and United finished second in their Europa League group, behind Real Sociedad, putting both in the playoff round.
The game reflects both clubs’ recent declines, but this season has seen a domestic revival for both under Xavi and Erik ten Hag, respectively. Barcelona leads La Liga, while United is third in the Premier League and in the League Cup final. Both Barcelona and Manchester United appear to be on the rise. Xavi’s team leads LaLiga by eleven points over Real Madrid, while Erik ten Hag has United playing some of their best football in years.
A Champions League final just over a decade ago, even a Europa League setting can’t dampen the excitement of a meeting between two of Europe’s top sides.
Barcelona leads LaLiga (with a 93.2% chance of remaining there at the end of 2022-23), while Manchester is third in the Premier League (with a 61.6% chance of remaining there and a 12.6% chance of finishing second). Barcelona has reached a level of competence not seen since Ernesto Valverde led the club to back-to-back LaLiga titles in 2017 and 2018. Despite winning their Champions League group and finishing first in the league by the new year, Valverde was fired in January 2020.
Manchester United have been in the Europa League three of the last four years and haven’t realistically challenged for a Premier League title in a decade – this May will mark exactly ten years since their last league title under Alex Ferguson – but belief in Ten Hag is growing.
Both teams would prefer to put their newly acquired skills to the test in Europe’s premier competition, but for the time being, it’s Thursday night football for the two. It offers both managers a very realistic chance of winning silverware in their first full seasons in charge of their respective clubs.
Barcelona and Manchester United have met 13 times across all competitions (six Barcelona wins, three Man Utd wins, three draws). The first three occurred in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, while the previous ten occurred in the UEFA Champions League. Manchester United has won their last five European matches. Only once in European competition have they won six games in a row (their first six games of the 1965-66 season in the European Cup).
The home team will be without Sergio Busquets, who suffered an ankle injury in Sunday night’s LaLiga victory over Villarreal. At the weekend, Franck Kessie stepped in alongside Frenkie de Jong in a double pivot to replace the Spanish veteran midfielder, and the same is expected on Thursday. Ousmané Dembélé is still out due to a hamstring injury.
❗| The following Manchester United players will miss the first leg vs FC Barcelona:
• Injury – Antony, McTominay, Martial & Eriksen.
• Unavailable – Lisandro Martinez. pic.twitter.com/mQsASUOjYh— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) February 10, 2023
Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek are United’s two long-term injury absentees, but Ten Hag can call on Casemiro again after missing the Brazilian due to a red card suspension in the last two games (both against Leeds) after being sent off against Crystal Palace. Manchester United fans are dreaming of Premier League glory again thanks to Erik ten Hag. This year may be a stretch, with Arsenal and Manchester City setting the pace, but the team and club are definitely in a better mood. Ironically, things have improved significantly since
Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview criticising the club’s management and subsequent departure. This is a team that is very much in the mould of the calm and collected Dutch manager who is now on the bench.
Manchester United defeated Real Sociedad 1-0 in their final group stage match at Reale Arena, their fifth Europa League victory in a row this season. In the victory, Alejandro Garnacho was the only player to score. They are unbeaten in their last six games in all competitions heading into Thursday’s match (W5 D1 L0).
Prediction
Barcelona 2-1 Manchester United
