Europa League Play-off 2nd Leg

Manchester United 2:1 Barcelona

Old Trafford

Kick-off
Thu, 23 February 2023 @ 8:00pm GMT
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Discussion Your Lineup Prediction

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    Xavi before the game: "press every player who is not called fred, Wout or aaron because theyre shit at passing, the most fundamental thing in football, and we are through"

    We need some improvements badly
     
    Btw does ddg have troubles kicking the ball past the half way line? His kicks seem to hardly make it there and it's almost always a give away inviting pressure
     
    The more I watch the penalty, the worse it gets. The danger's been dealt with, the boy's running away from goal, why put your hand on him at all? Bruno was literally asking for the Barca player to dive there.
     
    Thought we had scored in every home game this season. Then I remembered. What is it about Spanish teams?
     
    Get Wout off, put Rashy up top, shift Bruno into the 10, get Antony on the right and put Sancho on the left and if he doesn’t improve sub him for Garnacho.
     
    The ref changed the game. We looked brighter at the start and Bruno should have scored. Need to get our head back in and give it a good go in the second half.
     
    It’s so frustrating, he just needs to get his hand off him, slow your body down as you go into him and back off…
    Seeing the slow motion replay it’s even softer than I thought, the ref was conned but only Bruno’s hand on him makes it look remotely believable
     
    GwilDor said:
    My argument against him. You can defend the pen from a technical, in-the-moment point of view. But when you consider what he refuses to consider a foul outside the pen area, its just a joke



    what is his reputation?
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    I don’t watch ligue 1 but from what I hear he is horrible. The refs are very poor in France and have a reputation to make the game their own.
    This guy is the only one making it in Europe or the most rated one and that’s scary. He was the ref when we lost against Villarreal in final.
     
    Ref is ridiculous not giving the free kick for the foul Rashford early on. But Bruno was stupid to think this ref would allow just rougher contact. Give them a soft penalty and now they're comfortable with their when we handicap ourselves with a CF who offer no threat up front.

    They easily passed around his overrated pressing ability. If we needed someone to press up front, just put Fred there, and uses another midfielder.

    I really don't get why ETH keeps starting WW and shoehorn him into the team.
     
    Lee565 said:
    This weghorst experiment is up there with van gaal insistence on rooney as midfielder, he offers sod all.

    Bruno is too erratic it works for a top 4 team but not for a team looking to win trophies.

    Fred is the same, one good game followed by a bad game and today is that bad game again.

    Forgot sancho was on the pitch...
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    This is quite the take
     
    RedRoach said:
    What mental gymnastics? He is being universally condemned
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    Nope, there's still a fan club who think his "presence" has been important or the fact he runs around a lot despite never winning the ball back makes him worth starting every game.

    Basically these people think disagreeing with ETH on anything is a betrayal so they will pretend Weghorst is responsible for anything good we do when he actually contributes as little as a professional footballer ever could.
     
    This is a typical United performance in Europe over recent years. The other team just look more streetsmart and are just in a different league at keeping the ball. We won’t be going anywhere in Europe until we get players who are comfortable at passing the ball.
     
    The ref ignored the foul on Rashford, but gave them a very cheap penalty. That's the problem. Yes, he can give the penalty every day, no-one could complain. But there is no excuse for not giving that freekick.
     
    Valencia Shin Crosses said:
    No he hasn’t. He’s just run around. They both need to go.

    At least Sancho can control a football at times.

    This Barca team isn’t very good, but we have so little quality on the ball with some of our players that they are just daring them (Wout,AWB, Fred) to beat us
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    laughtersassassin said:
    They both go to go at half time
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    I dont have an issue with both going off, as long as there is a consideration that Weghorst at least presses and makes 5 yard passes which is already a lot more than whatever the feck Sancho did.
    In Rainbows said:
    With possession? Because that's all they have, and that was always going to be the case.

    Really, both teams have created nothing. The difference is the pen.
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    They've made us chase shadows a lot more and pressed us better to make misplaced passes. They've had more deliveries in the box and are pressing higher as a unit better than we are.

    They're also controlling the game to their liking, which is a big deal away from home.
     
    That ref is a disgrace. Honestly one of the worst penalty decisions I've ever seen. Absolute fecking joke! How he gives that as a pen when Rashford gets booted in the shins and gives nothing is mind boggling. And that diving cheating little cnut has been throwing himself to the ground every chance he gets.
     
    Stookie said:
    How many times down the years have we been done by teams in European comps playing like this? Concede a soft goal and then struggle to get any rhythm going due to the other teams shithousery and a weak ref. Couple that with 2,3 even 4 of your team being anonymous and it’s game over if things stay as they are. ETH got some changes to make. And the sooner the better, not on the 60 minute mark or after- on for the second half. If Wout walks out for the second half we’re fecked.
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    Bruno scores his chance and it could be a different game. That’s our problem in these big games in Europe over the last 10 years.
     
    On the international feed they are showing the foul for the penalty over and over again. The more I watch it the more I see how soft it was. I initially thought it was a penalty. Now I've seen 17 different angles it was soft. The Barca player went down too easily and twisted on his own. Not a penalty.
     
    I hope the referee will review how Lewandowski took the pk. He came to a stop before restarting, which the rules forbid.
     
    bosnian_red said:
    There's not much in the game. United have been a bit loose in possession since going behind but the only difference is really just Bruno missing the only real chance in the game and then conceding the pen. They've controlled the game and kept us at arm's length since, but they haven't created anything to look like getting another. Just need to be better on the ball in the attacking third and take the chances when they come.
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    Agreed, Barca the better team but they haven't created much and we've been loose in possession when building up in possession.
     
    RedDevil@84 said:
    You seem to watching slow-mo replays. Such pulling backs happen all the time.
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    There's pulling an arm back in a tussle for the ball, then there's grabbing an arm and turning the player around. He 100% causes the player to twist around, it's a clear foul
     
    If we had the three guys in the BT studio in their prime, we'd be through to the next round already!
     
    When you see the penalty situation again it looks even more soft. He hardly touches him, when you see the close-up.
     
    As usual everything’s gone to shit - from the terrible penalty call to the players’ performances. In a tight game at the top level you cannot get away with playing below average players like Fred, Bissaka and Weghorst.

    Until we fill the gaping holes in the starting eleven (actual ball-playing GK, an actual and adequate striker and an adequate partner for Casemiro), we’ll keep coming short when it matters.
    Hopefully Ten Hag brings Fred, Weghorst and Bissaka off as soon as possible.
     
    Extra time would be a disaster. Just hope it is sorted in normal time, one way or another
     
    Freak said:
    Sancho rubbish today. Fernandes wasting chances
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    Agree, but think its a case of position. EtH tries him at 10. shift Rash up top, Sancho left, Weghorst #10, and keep Bruno RW. Then around 60’ do Garnacho on for Weg. Garnacho 11, Sancho 7, Bruno 10. 3-1 win.
     
    Timdbro said:
    It’s so frustrating, he just needs to get his hand off him, slow your body down as you go into him and back off…
    Seeing the slow motion replay it’s even softer than I thought, the ref was conned but only Bruno’s hand on him makes it look remotely believable
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    Fair enough if the ref gets conned, that’s what var is for. Why they refuse to overturn obvious fecking balls ups is beyond me
     
    100 said:
    I don’t think people realise how limiting Weghorst is here. Balls like the one Rashford tried to play to him are a must against a decent defence. He’s practically incapable of running onto a pass.
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    But he's been useful in the shadow striker role as a target man for de Gea to hit when he wants to go long, and he can hassle the opponents in the middle. He's not a focal point of an attack and given Rashford was sensational through the middle last time around it boggles the mind why ETH didn't set up in the same way again. Bit of a Pep-overthinking I suspect.
     
    tothetop96 said:
    There's pulling an arm back in a tussle for the ball, then there's grabbing an arm and turning the player around. He 100% causes the player to twist around, it's a clear foul
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    He really doesn't, contact is pretty minimal.
     
    It is quite funny to hear commentators and pundits indicate how Rashford doesn't look comfortable om the left and needs to move up front
     
    It just doesn’t look like our day. Ref and some stray passes ending up with Barca players, it just feels it’s going to be a frustrating night.
     
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Post-match discussion

Man of the Match

Fred image Fred 50% of 410 votes

Runners-up

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Player Ratings

7.0 Total Average Rating

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Compiled from 373 ratings.
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Score Predictions

195,21,15
  • Man Utd win
  • Barcelona win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 42% Man Utd 2:1 Barcelona
  • 14% Man Utd 3:1 Barcelona
  • 13% Man Utd 2:0 Barcelona
  • 6% Man Utd 3:2 Barcelona
  • 5% Man Utd 1:2 Barcelona
  • 4% Man Utd 1:0 Barcelona
  • 3% Man Utd 1:1 Barcelona
  • 3% Man Utd 3:0 Barcelona
  • 3% Man Utd 2:2 Barcelona
  • 1% Man Utd 5:0 Barcelona
  • 1% Man Utd 0:1 Barcelona
  • 1% Man Utd 0:2 Barcelona
  • 1% Man Utd 4:2 Barcelona
  • 1% Man Utd 2:3 Barcelona
  • 0% Man Utd 6:0 Barcelona
  • 0% Man Utd 0:0 Barcelona
  • 0% Man Utd 1:3 Barcelona
  • 0% Man Utd 0:3 Barcelona
  • 0% Man Utd 4:1 Barcelona
  • 0% Man Utd 0:5 Barcelona
Compiled from 231 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Barcelona
Possession
42% 58%
Shots
12 6
Shots on Target
5 3
Corners
1 2
Fouls
13 12

Referee

Clement Turpin

Man Utd Lineup

Substitutes

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