[Siorac]

I think they wont. They're hyped too much.

I hope and pray you're right.

 

[R.N7]

Could have used another Belgian up front tonight...

 

[Okey]

I'm writing without reading any previous comments but I'm sure it'll be a prevailing opinion. Impressive performance against the famous mighty Barcelona, with light years between the squads. Only lost due to a lack of quality in the final third. And in whatever position Ashley Young plays. If Fred and McT are our squad options in midfield, we'll be just fine. Highly impressed with them both. Proud of our team. Gutted to lose but we're going to the Nou Camp still alive. However it ends, I have a feeling I'll be proud of them after that as well. Can't wait...

 

[Charlie Foley]

Dalot should have scored, but tough to put too much blame on a teenager full back for our lack of goals

 

[Offside]

We were unlucky. If we swap Young and Lukaku for top players we’d have won that. Early goal second leg and who knows

 

[Redderp]

It’s a little bit sad seeing so many United fans being happy with “not getting destroyed”. It sounds very similar to when a midtable or worse team comes to Old Trafford and plays well defensively, but creates nothing and lose 1-0.

People seem to forget that creating chances and scoring goals is the hardest part of football and what seperates good teams from bad teams.

Yes we are still not in a good place as a team, but lets still have some dignity and act like a big club. I actually had a friend write that he was proud of the performance tonight. I didn’t send a reply to him, but it kinda hurt to read.

[edit]also reading a lot of fans saying that we were the better team and unlucky to lose. I’m sorry but if you create zero chances you are not the better team.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm writing without reading any previous comments but I'm sure it'll be a prevailing opinion. Impressive performance against the famous mighty Barcelona, with light years between the squads. Only lost due to a lack of quality in the final third. And in whatever position Ashley Young plays. If Fred and McT are our squad options in midfield, we'll be just fine. Highly impressed with them both. Proud of our team. Gutted to lose but we're going to the Nou Camp still alive. However it ends, I have a feeling I'll be proud of them after that as well. Can't wait...

Hehe. Far too optimistic for this place.

Generally agree with your opinion, though.

 

[crossy1686]

Well even Michael Owen think's we've still got a chance of going through so take that you pessimistic lot!

 

[GledTheRed]

We could have used a good right winger tonight.....

 

[Dec9003]

Honestly I'd have taken that result and performance before the match.
They're better than us, but we're still in the game going to their ground.
Anything can happen in the second leg, we'll probably go out but we could go through as is.

 

[OLLY ORANGE]

Felt like a missed opportunity tonight with what Barca turned up.
Strange subs, the days of having four genuine centre forwards in our squad seem distant memories.
Some good performances and some oh to familiar poor performances.
Strange how crosses became more frequent and of higher quality once lukaku and rashford went off.
Rashford a big concern for me again tonight as his team play and football brain was really poor all round. This happening way too frequently with the occasional individual moments to mask over underlying issues.
Reading recent press articles linking rashford to a huge new pay rise is really worrying considering the fall out from the Sanchez contract.
To think what a young Rooney was producing at the same age is like comparing chalk and cheese.
Looks like we are rewarding mediocrity way to quickly.
Fred, dalot and man of the match scott were the pleasing points of the evening.

 

[MrSingh2002]

Lopsided haphazard performance.

We gave an average Barcelona team way too much respect.

We would've done better working on basic passing moves and combination play during the week and playing 433.

The bullshit we just put out is not good enough for a home leg in the champions league.

 

[Oscar.Z.Acosta]

Set-up not to get caught on the counter and it worked. Our forwards are just not quite good enough at this level and it’ll show more often than not.

 

[Andy Hill]

Still in it. On the positive note PSG scored 2, Barca only managed 1. Anything is possible.

 

[MrSingh2002]

Did Rakitic play today? McTominay and Fred ate him up. Shame we were shite at both ends.

 

[bondsname]

I think we did great. Just look at Barcas squad, they have proven and experienced winners, champions league winners, and we ended the game with Lingard, Pereira, Mctominay and Dalot. The difference in quality is night and day. Ole got the tactics spot on, Messi was quiet the whole game. Barca won thanks to an own goal.

We lack quality in the final third, and that's it.

But it will be 1000x harder to get the result we need at Camp Nou than it was at Parc de Prince.

 

[PoTMS]

Losing at home again is a big worry. Can't believe we've only (just) beaten Young Boys in 5 home games this season.

 

[jesperjaap]

I predicted 2-2 before the match. Watched Barcelona v Lyon in the last legs. I personally think though they are doing well, they are a pretty average Barcelona side and we absolutely blew it this evening.
We were poor in the first 15 and last 15 minutes, rest of the game we actually played pretty well.....the final ball was absolutely woeful though time and time again. Ironic the best performances were where we have the injuries Fred and McTominay.

 

[Schneckerl]

Did Rakitic play today? McTominay and Fred ate him up. Shame we were shite at both ends.

Arthur and Busquets weren't much better either.

 

[MrSingh2002]

Arthur and Busquets weren't much better either.

You're right. An opportunity missed. Atleast we don't have long to wait to find out how it goes at Nou Camp.

 

[jderbyshire]

So so pleased that we're still in the tie. Anything can happen at the Nou Camp now.

Hilarious that Messi ends up doing hardly anything, especially after the pundits were legit wanking over him before the game.

McTominay was excellent tonight, but Ashley Young wow. Our Captain. Wow. I have no words.

Rashford sloppy again, but he's been struggling with injury/illness.

We put a lot of effort in, the crowd were on top form as well (not heard Old Trafford like that in ages)

But ultimately our lack of technical quality prevented us from capitalizing on a below-par Barca performance. Any time we tried to get forward and make something happen, it was just so labourious and cumbersome.

And why did we try crossing the ball over and over again AFTER Lukaku had been subbed off?? This just sums up how a lot of our attacking was "hit and hope", especially from Young - just kick the ball somewhere and hope it ends up going to a red shirt.

Anyway. Let's have another famous night in the Nou Camp.

 

[TMDaines]

Feels strange to be content with a 0-1 defeat at home without even managing a shot on target, but here we are. This feels so different to Sevilla last year, where I couldn’t have given a feck about qualifying for the CL this season after being so rudderless, and now I am desperate to be in it next year, despite having attended five games this season for a solitary Fellaini goal!

I think Ole’s tactics were right. We really limited Barca and the fact we created little ourselves was more down to the personnel we selected in key areas. Young had so much opportunity to deliver from the right and was real poor. I’ve defended him for the longest time, but he has regressed this season. We had clearly worked on something with Dalot at left wing back and Shaw at centre back, but it wasn’t optimal. We weren’t tonight that Dalot has no left foot or at least one he trusts. There’s no point playing two centre forwards if you can’t deliver quality from wide. Time and time again we had the opportunity but didn’t.

I’m somewhat disappointed the manager didn’t address this as the match wore on. The first sub was like for like, the second was a mistake and Lingard’s introduction meant a change of system which lost us control for ten minutes, until Pereira came on as an extra midfielder.

McTominay and Fred were our top performers. The Sauce is making the many of us who wrote him off look damn fools. The kid gets it and is becoming a man on the pitch with each passing game. You don’t want to make a habit of being MotM in defeat, but he was again tonight. I love to see him directing other more senior players out, calling for the ball, and looking to play every time. Fred is looking like finally settling in too.

We’re right in this tie. It’s only half-time and whilst scoring first would be nice, we are probably going to have score twice anyway so conceding first doesn’t matter too much. I’m optimistic and looking forward to next week. We’ve beaten no one at home this season, but we’ve already beaten Juve, PSG, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal away this season, and were the better side against Chelsea and Arsenal in the league too. It’s going to be tough, but the players know they can do it.

First up is West Ham this weekend and the team will likely be mixed up for that. It’s important we get a good win this weekend and can send the lads off with confidence.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Feels strange to be content with a 0-1 defeat at home without even managing a shot on target, but here we are.

I think Ole’s tactics were right. We really limited Barca and the fact we created little ourselves was more down to the personnel we selected in key areas. Young had so much opportunity to deliver from the right and was real poor. I’ve defended him for the longest time, but he has regressed this season. We had clearly worked on something with Dalot at left wing back and Shaw at centre back, but it wasn’t optimal. We weren’t tonight that Dalot has no left foot or at least one he trusts. There’s no point playing two centre forwards if you can’t deliver quality from wide. Time and time again we had the opportunity but didn’t.

I’m somewhat disappointed the manager didn’t address this as the match wore on. The first sub was like for like, the second was a mistake and Lingard’s introduction meant a change of system which lost us control for ten minutes, until Pereira came on as an extra midfielder.

McTominay and Fred were our top performers. The Sauce is making the many of us who wrote him off look damn fools. The kid gets it and is becoming a man on the pitch with each passing game. You don’t want to make a habit of being MotM in defeat, but he was again tonight. I love to see him directing other more senior players out, calling for the ball, and looking to play every time. Fred is looking like finally settling in too.

We’re right in this tie. It’s only half-time and whilst scoring first would be nice, we are probably going to have score twice anyway so conceding first doesn’t matter too much. I’m optimistic and looking forward to next week. We’ve beaten no one at home this season, but we’ve already beaten Juve, PSG, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal away this season, and were the better side against Chelsea and Arsenal in the league too. It’s going to be tough, but the players know they can do it.

First up is West Ham this weekend and the team will likely be mixed up for that. It’s important we get a good win this weekend and can send the lads off with confidence.

Indeed. Top 4 is the priority now. Winnable games

 

[TheReligion]

Well yes he's.

Barca played in second gear and hardly needed to break a sweat or put much effort to get an away win in a CL tie. We hardly threatened them, had no shots on target and barely did anything to force Barca out of their second gear.

That's is you want to go with the narrative that United's play had no impact on how Barca played. Which is naive.

 

[Mal donaghy]

Who voted for Paul pogba, and likewise DDG in the MOM poll ? need naming and shaming , ridiculous

 

[el3mel]

That's is you want to go with the narrative that United's play had no impact on how Barca played. Which is naive.

That's the reality and what happened really, but as I said in my earlier post, we can be happy with the moral victory while Barca took exactly what they wanted without the need to put much effort into this.

 

[F miah]

Our defence and midfield played well but our attacking players let us down tonight.. Pogba, Rash, Lukaku..

The Tom and Fred shown good qualities.

Hopefully Barca has a off day on return leg.

 

[Lash]

I was thankful Fred didn’t get punished with a similar situation to the first wolves goal today. Thought he had a great game. Him and Mctominay stepped up. Same can’t really be said for pogba and the attackers. We were poor in front of goal and creating chances. That being said, against a team favourite to win the tourney and compared to some of the dross we were served up early in the season, it was gripping to watch. That’s all I can ask of this team at the moment. I hope we make some great attacking additions in the summer.

As for the next leg, why the hell not. Nothing to lose again, hopefully the attackers will have a bit more sharpness and we can actually trouble ter stegen - who looks pony btw. Disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Red1968]

Is anyone actually shocked at what transpired with our attack tonight? We did play a much better than expected defensive game but going forward we are just too cautious. Nobody on our team dares dribble in the box so they send cross after cross in there. Some of these crosses were actually decently placed but we had 2 attackers in there sometimes vs 4 men back. The most excruciating thing to watch though was seeing the lack of pressure against their backs. They just kept casually passing the ball around and our forwards and mid looked like a cat chasing a sunbeam. Way too much respect shown for Barca who quite frankly were average and were there to be beaten.

 

[bushyboy]

Not too bad considering most on here predicted a hiding. We kept Messi relatively quiet and limited their chances. We were wasteful in the final third especially with poor crossing and free kicks, and missing two of our best chances. Our midfield were very good, defence good (except...), strikers and subs ineffective. Still in with a slight chance.

 

[TheReligion]

That's the reality and what happened really, but as I said in my earlier post, we can be happy with the moral victory while Barca took exactly what they wanted without the need to put much effort into this.

No one is happy with a moral victory. I'm not sure what you're talking about. Barca were poor, so were United (especially in the final third). It was a rubbish game really but United weren't battening down the hatches and looked pretty comfortable for large spells.

The fact an own goal is the difference between the teams at the half way point says it all. Cagey affair.

 

[Ace of Spades]

Somehow, Busquets survived a second yellow. The ref just loved showing cards in players faces, but shat himself from making the big calls. Maybe should have got a pen as well.

 

[Offside]

United were the better team and the same nothing to lose attitude that we had against Juve and PSG will prevail. 2-1 United. Nice one.

 

[glazed]

I thought Barca were bang average side apart from a fairly amazing assist from Messi. We deserved to win.

Takeaways were that we need greater consistency up front and Young is going through a long bad patch. Doubt we'll win in Spain but you never know.

 

[BlueHaze]

If that was against Liverpool at Anfield they would have lost. They are probably going to face each other in the semis and Liverpool are much better defensively than us and about ten times better offensively. I fear they might have a good chance against Barca and the thought of them reaching the finals two years in a row is as stinky as it gets.

 

[el3mel]

No one is happy with a moral victory. I'm not sure what you're talking about. Barca were poor, so were United (especially in the final third). It was a rubbish game really but United weren't battening down the hatches and looked pretty comfortable for large spells.

The fact an own goal is the difference between the teams at the half way point says it all. Cagey affair.

Don't see it like that all. This just makes it better what it actually was.

They got what they wanted without breaking a sweat. We didn't while putting max effort. As simple as that. Barca will be happy with the overall match tonight, not much effort and a great result away from home. Printing it as if both teams were rubbish and just an own goal is imo just trying to make things good on our side, which isn't true really. That was bad from the home team. One team got what they wanted in a comfortable night for them and the other left wanting a 2-0 win away from home to progress.

 

[VeevaVee]

We played pretty well. Thankfully they didn't. It was the final 10% of quality that let us down. Crosses a foot over the attacker. Poor first touch. Pass not quite good enough. More intensity and/or a better final ball and we could've had it, but it's a marathon not a sprint when over two legs, I guess.

 

[Snow]

Positives: Fred was good, McTominay was very good and shows more promise with each big game. Solskjær got the tactics correct.

Negatives: Lineup was way wrong and it cost us the game. You can argue that he got the tactics wrong with regards to personnel selection but for arguments sake I'm separating the two. I think we would have done a lot better with Shaw on the left, a CB playing as a CB and anyone else (literally anyone) in place of Young.

Shaw just didn't know what he was doing and Lindelöf also didn't look comfortable in his position. He's an attacking full back who's decent at 1v1. His weakness as a full back is defending against his blind side and that's what Barca managed to exploit. They scored a goal because he was duped by Messi and then he didn't bother to track Suarez on his blind side. In the 2nd half Suarez hit the side net after being put through on Shaw's blind side. Basically Barca didn't do much but when they did they went through Shaw. I don't particularly want to put much blame on him, the blame lies with the manager for putting him in such an uncomfortable position in such a big match. It was the wrong move.

Dalot as a left winger meant that we weren't able to utilize him at all because players weren't going to expect him to cross with his weaker foot. He was also very isolated whenever he got the ball. Also an uncomfortable match for him to play.

Ashley Young...Jesus Christ. When is it enough? How is he suddenly the captain of Manchester United and where does this unwavering faith in him come from? He's absolute trash. Very rarely have I been as fed up with a United player as I am with Young. Our attacks in this match died with him whenver he was made to deliver a pass. When Lukaku got taken off you might as well have taken him off while you were at it because his chances of contributing anything went down to zero.

Rashford has too many bad games and this kind of setup doesn't suit him. Too many times when the team was pressing you saw him just walking about. What he does off the ball just isn't good enough. He manages to spot a run through the defense fine if he gets a good runway but it's hard to involve him too much play. Try and compare it to Tadic who was playing as a lone forward against the Juventus defense. Time and time again Ajax found his feet and he continued to move the ball. With Rashford you just sort of get nothing too much. Similar with Lingard and Lukaku but unlike them I think he's more of a reactive player than a proactive one.

Lukaku did very little but I felt like we would have seen a lot more from him had we had a decent crosser on the right. Barcelona had it way too easy defending this match.

Finally I saw the post-match interview on the feed with McTominay and Smalling and I wasn't too happy with it. Basically if you didn't know how the game went you would have gathered from their responses that United played really well, won the game and now had to finish it at Camp Nou. Don't get me wrong, United played alright for the most part of the match but it wasn't good enough to win. We had one decent chance when Dalot headed the ball bizzerly but at the end of game there were 0 shots on target. Last time that happened in the CL was in 2005. So overall in a game where Messi was bad, Rakitic and Arthur did nothing and there was little threat from their full backs United didn't do too well.

 

[mariachi-19]

Three points I'll take from that game:

1. Their best players are a level above our best, espescially Messi up front and Pique in defense.

2. They don't have the obvious weak spots that we have, i.e. Ashley Young

3. Most of their players have done the same attacking routine for a decade, most of ours have played under managers without any attacking routine for the last 3-6 years.

I think we can remedy this within 2-3 seasons if we get the right personel in, and start developing our attacking play. Hope Solskjær is the man to do it.

We were better than them for over 1/2 of the match.

Further, you must not have been watching too hard because their distribution from the back was woeful and when we actually pressed them, they made constant mistakes.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Game's alive, no complaints other than Busquets getting his traditional extra life in the CL. VAR was used well, much to our downfall.

It's clear to the world where we are lacking and have been lacking for ever, we have no RW or RB and, much because of this, no real penetration against top teams. We moved the ball well tonight, Fred and McT really came into their own and Barca didn't really do all that much but they have zero respect for our attack and rightly so. We don't create openings and unless it's a screamer from a long way out, I can't see us hurting them 2nd leg. I'd personally start Martial up top because he can't offer less than Lukaku but we played well and at least it's not the hammering some people suspected.