Manchester United And Barcelona Champions League Quarter Final First Leg: Comments. Team News. Stats & Prediction.
By: Marc Gingell
After a couple of recent hiccups Manchester United have the perfect opportunity to pick themselves in a big Champions League game against a Barcelona side that could include Lionel Messi plus former Liverpool players Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho.
Match Details
| 10/4/2019 | Old Trafford | Manchester United | v | Barcelona |
| KO: 20:00 | REF: G Rocchi | |||
Manchester United Team News
- Unknown Return Date: Antonio Valencia Knock. Matteo Darmian Knock.
- Expected Back 21 Apr: Alexis Sánchez Knee injury.
- 75% Chance of Playing: Eric Bailly Head injury. Ander Herrera Knock. Marcus Rashford Ankle injury
Opta Stats
- This is the first Champions League meeting between Barcelona and Manchester United since the 2011 final, which Barcelona won 3-1 at Wembley.
- Manchester United have never lost a home European match against Barcelona (W2 D2 L0), with this is the first meeting between the sides at Old Trafford since the second leg of the 2007-08 Champions League semi-final, a 1-0 win for the Red Devils.
- Manchester United have won two of their last 11 Champions League knockout ties (W2 D3 L6), failing to win either of their quarter-final games in the 2013-14 season under David Moyes against Bayern Munich.
Since Chelsea eliminated Barcelona in the 2011-12 semi-final, English teams have been eliminated in 10 of their last 11 Champions League knockout ties against Spanish sides – the exception was Leicester City against Sevilla in the last 16 in 2016-17. - Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has scored 22 Champions League goals in 30 appearances against English teams – more than any other player in the history of the competition.
- Lionel Messi has failed to score in any of his last 11 Champions League quarter-final appearances for Barcelona; since netting against PSG in April 2013, the Argentinian forward has attempted 49 shots without success at this stage of the competition.
Prediction
Under Ole Gunnar Solskjær United have kept one clean sheet in the Premier League (against Liverpool) and Champions League at Old Trafford and it will be a big ask to expect them to do that against Barcelona.
Manchester United 3 – 1 Barcelona
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