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Rob DawsonCorrespondent
BARCELONA, Spain — Barcelona and Manchester United played out a pulsating clash at Camp Nou to draw 2-2 in the first leg of their Europa League last-32 tie.
United will be the happier of the two teams as the tie switches to Old Trafford next week, despite at one stage leading 2-1 thanks to another Marcus Rashford goal — his 11th of 2023 in all competitions so far — and Jules Kounde putting through his own net. After an even first half, Marcos Alonso put Barcelona ahead in the second half before United’s fight back. Xavi’s team needed an equaliser from Raphinha to level the tie, but they couldn’t find a winner during a frantic final 10 minutes, setting for the draw.
All in all, the game sets up an intriguing return fixture in Manchester in a week’s time.
Rapid reaction
1. Tie perfectly poised ahead of Old Trafford return leg
Man United manager Erik Ten Hag said he was looking forward to playing Barcelona to gauge where his team are at and against the best team in Spain this season, he will have been happy with much of what he saw. Barcelona are eight points clear at the top of LaLiga and haven’t lost at Camp Nou all season, but United matched Xavi’s side for long periods.
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After a tense first half and then a chaotic second period that included all four goals, the tie is perfectly poised for the return game at Old Trafford next week. United battled back from a goal down to lead 2-1 before Barcelona equalised, and from there the visitors needing a string of late, acrobatic saves from David De Gea to ensure things remained level after the first leg.
Ten Hag isn’t finished with his rebuild, of course, but already he’s overseen wins over Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City and a creditable draw against the team who are likely to be crowned champions of Spain. It was a game that had the feel of a Champions League knockout fixture — because of the pedigree of the two sides and the end-to-end nature of the second half — and both teams will hope it’s just that if they meet again next season. The Europa League version wasn’t bad either, though.
2. Rashford is backing up Ten Hag’s Mbappe comparison
When Ten Hag said during the World Cup break that Rashford had the talent to rival Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, it raised a few eyebrows, but since returning from Qatar, Rashford has been on a mission to prove his manager right. Not only has Rashford scored 14 goals in 16 games since the restart, but his goal against Barcelona showed again that he’s capable of getting goals in the biggest games after already finding the net against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City this season.
Like Mbappe, the best players in the world tend to set themselves apart by swaying games against the biggest teams and against Barcelona, Rashford was central to United battling back from 1-0 down to 2-1 up in the space of seven second-half minutes. He first picked up Fred‘s pass to drill a low finish past Marc-Andre ter Stegen at his near post, and then burst past Raphinha with frightening ease before sending in the cross that was turned into his own net by Jules Kounde.
There will have been Barcelona leaving Camp Nou wishing they had Rashford in their team and those Mbappe comments from Ten Hag two months ago don’t seemed so far-fetched now.
3. Pedri‘s injury is a concern for Xavi
Neither Barcelona or Manchester United want to be in this competition — the Champions League is their target — and for Barcelona in particular, the Europa League play-off round came at a cost.
Pedri was forced off before half-time with what looked like a thigh strain, and Xavi can only hope it’s not serious. The Barcelona boss was in no mood to take a risk with the 20-year-old midfielder and was signalling to his bench that he wanted to make a change even before medical staff had been on to assess the injury. It was a good sign that Pedri took a seat on the bench when he came off for Sergi Roberto and didn’t feel the need to head straight down the tunnel for treatment, but expect his status to be closely monitored over the coming days.
After dropping down from the Champions League to UEFA’s secondary club competition, Xavi picked a strong team against United, but Barcelona’s focus this season is to win LaLiga for the first time since 2019 and Pedri has been key in opening up an 11-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table.
The Spain international has only failed to start four games this season and has already made 30 appearances in all competitions. Xavi can only hope that the injury isn’t serious and that Pedri is available to play a full role in the title run-in.
Best and worst performers
Best: David de Gea, GK, Man United
Back in Spain, De Gea made a couple of good saves as Barcelona pushed for a winner at the end.
Best: Marcus Rashford, FW, Man United
Scored United’s first and helped make the second to continue his impressive run of form.
Best: Raphinha, FW, Barcelona
The Brazilian winger got Barcelona’s second goal with a cross whipped in from the right.
Worst: Jadon Sancho, FW, Man United
He had a quiet night and missed a good chance in the second half.
Worst: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, DF, Man United
Deserves credit for winning back his place in the team but looked uncomfortable here, particularly in the first half.
Worst: Jules Kounde, DF, Barcelona
The Frenchman, playing at full-back, had a couple of awkward moments and scored an own goal from Rashford’s cross.
Highlights and notable moments
Barcelona opened the scoring via the former Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso…
Remember me?!
Former Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso haunts Man Utd and Barcelona are up 1-0. 🌶 pic.twitter.com/JKLSgAxRc0
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 16, 2023
… but it didn’t take Man United long to rally via Rashford and then the Kounde own goal.
Marcus Rashford can’t stop scoring. His 11th goal of 2023. 😳 pic.twitter.com/RjPwUXf8TY
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 16, 2023
Ultimately, a moment of class from Raphinha, whose deep cross skidded through to beat everyone in the box and find the net, helped Barcelona finish the first leg with honours shared.
Raphinha’s cross was so good no one touched it. 🔥
This match. 🍿 pic.twitter.com/8fpfAVyCUe
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 16, 2023
After the match: What the managers and players said
“I think we dictated the game, apart from maybe 15 minutes in the first half, we had some difficulties, but we were dictating the game and had so many chances. I was a little bit disappointed that at half-time it was 0-0, because we should have scored and the opportunities they had we created by ourselves. But I think it was a great game. Two attacking teams. I think it was a Champions League game, even more than that, so I really enjoyed the game… Of course I will credit Rashford definitely because he is in great form, but the whole team did well. I think it was a really good team performance.” — Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, speaking to BT Sport
Up next
Barcelona: Xavi’s side have a potentially gentle LaLiga weekend against Cadiz, who are just two points above the relegation zone, at Camp Nou on Sunday before they head to Old Trafford for the Europa League last-32, second leg, against Man United on Thursday, Feb. 23.
Man United: Ten Hag & Co. have a home date with Leicester City in the Premier League this Sunday, prior to hosting Barcelona on Feb. 23.