Apr 23
Barclona v Man Utd: Preview
Manchester United return to the stadium where we experienced our greatest European night. That night in Barcelona was something all United fans would savour, as would Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs. Today, however, we will face the home team in the intimidating cauldron that is the Camp Nou.
Much has been made about how mouth watering this clash is going to be but that would be the media talking. Yes, we will get to see the odd flourish or two because of the number of creative players that will be on display. But I think it would be a cagey affair.
Barcelona, for one, are not in the best of form and are full of internal squabbles. United on the other hand are in the rudest of health as far as team unity is concerned. In terms of form though, we’ve come out of a tiring draw against Blackburn. So we can’t really say that we’ve been annihilating teams.
Barcelona have something to cheer about though. The return of their talismanic forward, Messi, the probable return of Deco and the presence of Xavi and Iniesta will ensure that they will always be a threat. Moreover, with nothing else to play for other than the Champions’ League, they would give everything to get past us and save their season.
Formations? I would want Fergie to go with a midfield three of Carrick, Hargreaves and Anderson. The back four and ‘keeper is a foregone conclusion, barring injuries, and the forward line should be Rooney, Ronaldo and Park, with Nani to come on later on. I went for Park because I think Fergie might be swayed by his European exploits against Roma, and by the fact that he was well rested over the weekend.
If Fergie is really sentimental about wanting Scholes to play in the final — although, I’d hope he does not succumb to sentimentality — he could consider playing Scholes in the home leg only and not today because of his propensity of picking silly yellow cards. But then who am I to second guess him.
Prediction: 1-0 to United. It will be an ugly goal by some defender from a corner.
Over to you…
Related items from Red Rants:
- Man Utd v Stoke: Preview
- Man Utd v Everton: Preview
- Man Utd v Spurs match thread
- Rooney Out For A Month
- Porto it is then…
Tags: UEFA Champions' League
Craig Mc (195)
RedDevilEddy (170)
Opti (135)
Moscow is my heaven (96)
Ian (95)
Fergie’s lineup for this game is absolute shit. I cannot believe that he has chosen Brown at CB over Pique in a game in Spain. Thats really going to give the lad the desire to commit more years to our club. Scholes and Park instead of Nani is a big mistake. I am hoping for the best but the lineup has me very nervous. And 4-4-2 is positive but possibly foolhardy. Why respect Roma by playing one striker up front and show no respect against a far superior Barca team? Possibly he feels he can exploit their defensive weakness without Puyol in the lineup.
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nino chk http://www.myp2p.eu or http://www.justin.tv
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hargreaves plays in right back brown in centre looks like SAF has gone for 4-4-2
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Hey Cmon brown has been a disaster for us in the recent games just hope he does’nt make any mistakes
and wers anderson????Scholes is too old cmon fergie wake up”"”"”
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Grognard..relax..just trust SAF..his judgement can’t be underestimated..he proved us again and again about his brilliance..just hope for this one to be another SAF brilliance..
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One says; You coukld be right but I am certain that Scholes is a mistake because we need to play an up tempo game against Barca. He will slow it down too much and then he will do nothing but back pass all game. Then again, fresh Nani and Anderson subs in the second half could make the difference after Barca are tired. You get the feeling Fergie is going to play slow and grinding football until th 70 th minute when they will pick it up and try to snatch either the win or the draw.
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get anderson on pronto
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Oh boy…we certainly aren’t gonna get an away goal tonight it seems…
Yeah we needed Anderson on quickly in the 2nd half, as Barca were bossing our midfield all over the place, but we got Nani for Rooney instead. SAF should have taken off Scholes for Anderson and Park for Nani instead. But to be honest we’ve been really poor tonight; I think we gave them too much respect.
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well im not sure what to think. Am I happy we didn’t lose or am I dissapointed we didn’t get a away goal???
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Although I hated the way United played, this seems like the way Europe is played.. Milan, Liverpool style like discussed earlier… I still maintain that its a bad result only because 2 out 3 results at OT favour Barca: A draw and a barca win…
And was it just me, or did Brown look awesome at CB?
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what a borefest, we were deflated, lifeless, lazy. we didnt control the tempo of the game. everytime we got the ball, BANG long ball…throw in.
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What a joke. They were all over us.
Ronaldo lost his bottle.
United were thoroughly battered today and lucky we didn’t concede.
Remember Liverpools performance here? It was a lot better.
We just defended deep. Didn’t even bother push up. What a joke.
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i am so disappointed with our play..like a lifeless dead body hovering barca player..damned it..i think ronaldo blew it.he made other players loss their spirit..hopefully at old trafford it will be better..
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Interesting game
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Let’s not over-react now and try to look at things from a different perspective. I have watched the game twice now and it appears the primary objective was to contain Barca and not concede. Compared to our performance last season against Milan at the San Siro, we are already 3 goals better at this stage. We still have the advantage at the home leg and the tie is there for us to take.
Perhaps some of us have let the media shape our view on the Barca team. Yes, they are missing Ronaldinho and Henry only played 15 mins, while Messi is just returning from injury. But this is a really good Barca side with quality players. Just look at how they controlled and pass the ball. Almost everyone had an excellent first touch while the weight of the passes were more often perfect than not. And do bear in mind that this is a team 3rd in La Liga, which is not inferior compared to the Premier League. Do you expect us to go to the Emirates and win 4-0?
Perhaps we overlooked certain other factors, such as a large, partisan home crowd; the familiarity of the home team with their huge home pitch; the pressure on our players from expectations of the media, fans (yes, you and me) that they should, can, must emulate that 1999 side that won the treble at the very same ground.
An important factor that cannot be discounted is the fact that we are playing Chelsea this weekend as well which could very well be the league championship decider. Perhaps the strategy to contain and not concede was also formulated with that in mind, that instead of playing our usual 90 mile-an-hour game, pressing all over the pitch, it would have been better to sit in our final third, let the Spanish side come at us, conserve our energy so that we would be fresh for the Stamford Bridge encounter. What was interesting was that at the end of 90 mins, it was clear that Ronaldo, Rooney, Hargreaves, Rio, Brown, Evra did not seem tired and could have gone on if needed. Perhaps that could be a factor against Chelsea on Saturday.
Moving onto the details of the game:
Defensively, we did very well. 65% possession counts for nothing at the end of 90 mins if you cannot score. If you watch the game again, you would realise at no time in the game did Barca had a clear chance of goal in the box. Most of the shots against us came from outside the penalty box from some distance. Messi was perhaps the most dangerous player but as long as he could not get behind the defense, he had no clear chances.
In the midfield, credit has to go to the midfielders for keeping the shape and protecting the back four by being the first line of defense. More often than not, the Barca offense broke down because they did not have the space to operate in front of our defense. Offensively, it is true we did not hold the ball enough and wasted possession far too often. Hopefully, we can improve on this on Saturday and next Tuesday.
Upfront, I felt Ronaldo showed why he is perhaps better off playing as a winger than a striker. His first instinct on receiving the ball was always to turn and face the defense, even when he was closely marked, rather than lay it off back to a midfielder or hold the ball with his back towards the goal. We would have had a lot more possession had he been a little more patient.
Finally, put yourself in the shoes of a Barca fan and imagine the frustration having watched your team have so much possession but not get the result, knowing you have to go to Old Trafford. Who has the advantage now?
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Well this game ended pretty well like I predicted. I thought both sides would be good for one goal a piece but as it turned out, 0-0 was not that far off from what I felt would be the final score. Where to start? This game has positives and negatives for United. Let me start by eating crow once again regarding the selection of Paul Scholes. Every time the Ginger Ninja starts to look over the hill, he comes back and proves me wrong with a great defensive performance tonight. The team played a fantastic game of zone defense and really soaked up the pressure well. Not once did I feel that Barca had a true scoring chance. All they had all evening is a number of half chances and speculative efforts. Had Ronaldo scored on his woeful penalty attempt, I think the game would have opened up a bit.
United’s game plan was perfect even though it wasn’t pretty or adventurous. A game like this requires more caution and courage in defense. The lads really played hard. Offensively they looked flat footed all evening and they were unable to string any passes together because they lacked that jump and the fact that Barca played a predictable press. After the first five minutes it was clear to me that Barca would have over 60% of the possession. United were terrible in counterattacks. They just couldn’t get into a higher gear and their passes and lack of imagination was stunning to watch. Yet, this was a very positive result. You have to love our chances back at OT. The away goal would have been sweet but I cannot believe that we are not going to beat them at OT, no matter how good they might be. They couldn’t get the job done against us tonight in front of a very loud pro Barca crowd. Their only chance at OT is if they catch us on the counter when we are attacking. With players like Messi, that’s possible but I think unlikely.
The three things that bothered me the most in this case were as follows;
1. Ronaldo has to stop crying after every foul that isn’t called in his favor. Enough already. Be a man and take it. It’s causing him to lose his focus and referees are not calling them on him not so much because of his diving, but because of his attitude towards them.
2. Wayne Rooney should have been scratched for this game. Not only was he unfit and totally useless, but playing him in a position like RMF behind Ronaldo wasn’t only neutralizing his skills, but incredibly stupid on Fergie’s part. What was the point? Park or Nani could have played that role with more success.
3. Not playing Anderson from the start was a mistake even though the result favors us. His pace and urgency may have helped on counters as well as helped us kick our game up an extra gear.
PLAYER RATINGS! PLAYER RATINGS! PARTY TIME EXCELLENT ….WELL;
EVDS 7.5/10 – Very solid game and made a few steady if unspectacular saves. Was well positioned all game but he did make a few poor clearances in the first half. Never looked like he would be beaten.
HARGREAVES 7.5/10 – Predictably never had the offensive influence in the game due to the pressure of the opponent but he defended like a true vet and like he has played that position all his life. How many threats can any of you remember that came from his side. It was clear they were going to pick on Evra instead. Good calm clearances all game long.
RIO 7/10 – At times he was magnificant but he was also slppy a few times on back passes and a few clearances that could have hurt us if it weren’t for Barca’s inability to take advantage of the gaffs. He commanded the high balls in the area and he never let anybody get behind us.
BROWN 7.5/10 – Very surprisingly strong performance. He looked calm and reserved and never made a wrong touch. Also made some good tackles and backed up Rio and Evra very well.
EVRA 8/10 – Was outstanding defensively. He had a massive job against Messi but did a decent job neutralizing him in the penalty area. Messi made some nice plays and moves but he never really got any shots on goal and his play making was off form thanks to the pressure and quality marking as well as tackling of the little Frenchman. His defensive game has really improved over the past 18 months.
ROONEY 4/10 – And trust me, I’m being kind. In all the years I have watched Rooney play, I have never seen him play so poorly or be so anonymous on the pitch. Clearly the lad was hurting but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he was tactically positioned poorly and that he did absolutely nothing when the ball was at his feet. No running and causing havoc. It was awful. I felt I was in a time warp and I was watching Rooney play at the age of 45. If he’s not better for Chelsea, sit him down.
CARRICK 5/10 – Carrick had a very poor game. Constantly made poor tackles drawing fouls, his passes were terrible and players were getting around him easily. His one great opportunity to lay in a pass to Ronaldo for a tap in goal was wasted when he uncharacteristically decided to take a crack with his left foot. We all no the result. A simple pass to any of three open targets in the 6 yard box would have given us a 1-0 win. Very disappointing performance.
SCHOLES 8/10 – For me he was the man of the match. His defensive play and surprisingly strong running and energy saved our bacon numerous times. Quite often it was he bailing out Carrick or Rooney from their poor touches or defensive errors. And he never laid off one poor pass all night considering Barca were using a press. He looked really young and energized tonight. The tactics and formation never really allowed him to do much offensively but boy did he do his job.
PARK 5/10 – Why was he out there? He clearly is not suited to a game where possession is important. Yes he works hard but most of the time nothing ever comes out of his effort. His passing was poor and he looked out of it quite a bit tonight.
RONALDO 6/10 – A poor game by his standards. He ran hard when he had the ball but quite often he was caught standing and looking at the play rather than sprinting to an opening. He was preoccupied with the referee all night long and he seems to get taken out of a game early if he is tackled harshly. Zambrotta should have received two yellows for all the poor and rough tackles on him. Still, he was nowhere to be found and his passes were terrible. And where was he for a shot or two. His free kicks were also useless.
TEVEZ 4/10 – Has just been cast as the lead in the new version of “The Invisbible Man” He was worse than Rooney because there was nothing physically wrong with him. Incredibly disappointing performance in a Spanish speaking city against his Argentine teammate Messi. I expected a heroic effort from him. Instead what I got was confirmation of everything I have said about him in the past. He is not good enough to start regularly for Manchester United. Doesn’t have the physical presence the ball holding skills to be a top line striker. He’s much better in short bursts late in a game but it was clear he didn’t have it today or Fergie would not have taken him off too after subbing Rooney off earlier. That was a clear statement from the Gaffer that he knew he was out of juice.
NANI 5/10 – Did nothing with his 20 minutes.
GIGGS – Not enough time to do much.
FERGIE 7/10 – Mixed result for the Gaffer. Tactically he got the game right as to what we had to do to keep Barca from scoring. Where he got things wrong was where he had Rooney play and why he had him and Park start.
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mcrx3; they were all over us and couldn’t score. That shows they lack the cutting edge from past seasons. Our home record is outstanding over the last 2 seasons; 11 consecutive wins, 28 goals scored and only 8 conceded. 0-0 is a job well done by the lads. We probably would’ve been saying how we gave another perfect away performance if Ronaldo had scored that penalty because we scored an away goal and kept a clean sheet. The line between success and failure in some fans’ eyes is very thin.
Utsav, he wasn’t awesome but he had a very good game bar one or two mistakes. So what if two out of three results favour Barca against us, we will be at home and their defence was incredibly weak, everyone could see that. Plus their away record is pretty bad in the league; D – 12, W – 5, L – 3
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Too many of you are analyzing this game all wrong. Do you want to play attractive wide open football and lose? Because that’s what would happen at the Nou Camp against a quality team like Barca. Our game plan was ugly and uninspiring but it was very effective. Redd75 was spot on when he said that 65% possession means nothing if you can’t score goals. Lets face it, how many clear cut excellent scoring chances did Barca get in the game? Perhaps one when Eto shot wide from the right side. Other than that their chances weren’t even in the category of half chances. More like half baked chances. Our defensive team play was heroic today and big credit has to go to our back four as well as Scholes. And even though I felt Rooney, Park and Tevez stunk the joint up, they did track back and do a good job defensively.
The bottom line here is we are trying to win the CL. It’s not always going to be pretty. One thing Fergie has learned over the years id he knows what kind of play works this late in the tournament. He’s been there before and he’s been on the losing end enough times to learn from his mistakes. I think this time he has the team and the focus to get things right. Leave the pretty stuff for the meaningless road games. This game required patience and courage and discipline. The lads delivered in spades. Now they can open up a bit more in front of a hopefully loud and very supportive OT. A 2-0 home win is what we should get if we do not come out of the Stamford Bridge injured and demoralized. My God! Too many big games so close together. Fortunately it’s the same for Chelsea but Barca can rest a lot of players this weekend. We do not have that liberty. Although I think I would sit Rooney down because he clearly is not fit. Inject pain killers in that wasteoid Saha and put him out there. At this point I don’t care if he suffers another split end. Balsa Boy is needed by his team.
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Boys! Boys! Boys! Chill out already. Next week at this time you all will be sky high and shouting we’re off to Moscow. Bring on the Shite from Chelski or the Scousers from Loserpool. Sometimes winning is an ugly mistress.
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I felt the selection was wrong, the defending very good, the result? Could be good, could come back to haunt them.
To me Barca were poor, skillfull players, but flat…I think they were definitely ripe for a beating or a score draw…not with a crazy attacking style of play but with the style used in the second half against Arsenal. Why not have Anderson in the midfield when Rooney had to come back and defend all the time anyway? When the ball was won back there was no one to pass to.
Best players for me were Evra and Hargreaves
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match report is up guys…
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Conor according to Sky Sports Untied had less than 25% possession.
We call ourselves one of the best and if not the best teams in europe.
That performace did nothing to justify that.
Ronaldo was whinging at every opportunity and Rooney was playing right back.
Yes we didn’t concede but I have a horrible feeling Barcelona are gonna score at Old Trafford!
They grew in confidence because we sat back and they boxed us in and our back line didn’t push up when it had the opportunity.
Anyhow I’ll make sure I give all the Barcelona player grief when I’m up Old Trafford on Tuesday next week like they did United players.
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Before the negativity starts a 0-0 draw away at Barcelona is a decent result and our defence looked strong without Vidic which is positive going forward with a big game against Chelsea on Saturday. We were comfortably able to soak up pressure and took the best they could throw at us with over 60% of possession from one of the best attacking teams in the world. If you didn’t pay much attention to all the media hype than this type of game was expected from us.
As comfortable as we were in defence we were poor in attack and there was no flow in the counter attacks which is essential to this type of game in creating scoring opportunities. So it’s is ours to win in the 2nd leg with home crowd advantage, Ronaldo who is motivated to score, and the team know we took the best that they could give us with majority of the possession and they never looked like scoring. We can turn up the heat for the 2nd leg and with improvements in the counter attacks and better delivery and shooting from set plays we should win and book a place in the final.
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We played like a 4th division team. Hopeless performance… United players seemed clueless every time they got the ball. Not a single shot on/off target in second half!!!
Players were throwing away the ball/possession as if its not a ball but some bomb or grenade thats gonna burst anytime!!!
“Oh the ball has been passed to me… But what do I do with it???”
Only 37% possession!!! Joke!!!
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AndyCR7; Clearly you should settle for playing FIFA 08 because your understanding of the game of football is similar to an arcade game. The score was 0-0 in Barcelona. What were you expecting, a 4-0 win for us against the Catalan Giants? Get realistic. 0-0 was a fantastic result. Sure it was ugly but like I tried to say yesterday when the blog was down, winning can’t always look like a Vogue model. You are too wrapped up in useless statistics and spoilt by our pretty domestic football. That style doesn’t cut it this late in a very difficult tournament to win. The score is all that matters. I’m sure you will be laughing and shouting with joy next week when United will be booking their flight for Moscow. Until then, chill out mate. All I care is that Fergie and all United fans get that European Cup.
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Grognard I hardly thing what AndyCR7 is saying is unreasonable. Regardless of the system, the opposition, the venue or the occassion the level of passing we showed last night was woeful.
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JB; you think “we played like a 4th division team” isn’t unreasonable? It’s one thing to say our passing wasn’t up to scratch last night, but I think Andy took it a bit too far. I fully expected Barcelona to dominate possession with Scholes and Carrick playing, they may both have had good games defensively, but we all know that Anderson or Hargreaves would have broken up their possession a lot better. Barcelona are the kings of possession football at home and, up until this season, kept around 60% possession in away games to. It is what their team is built for.
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Conor: It was presumably an exageration used for effect. I agree that Barca are setup for possession football and will generally dominate in that respect. However that doesn’t excuse our pathetic attempt at passing. In 90 minutes we were only able to retain the ball for a worhtwhile length of time on a handful of occassions. I agree about using Hargreaves and Anderson to break up Barca’s rythem, but it still doesn’t excuse the performance of the lads out there.
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