Two European giants face off as Man Utd host Barcelona in a much anticipated Champions League Quarter Final 1st leg tie at Old Trafford!
It’s been a crazy road so far in Europe for Man Utd who have had one of the most historic turnaround wins in competitions history already. So far United have edged Valencia and Young Boys in the group stages for 2nd place finishing below Juventus and then in the R16 after losing the 1st leg 0-2 at home, United became the first team to win a Champions League tie after losing the 1st leg 0-2 at home as they overcame the deficit and beat PSG 1-3 and went through on away goals despite being depleted missing key players in that game.
Barcelona have had a more straight forward road so far in UCL. They topped the group that involved Tottenham, Inter and PSV comfortably and then beat Lyon 5-1 on aggregate as they thumped them 5-1 at Nou Camp in the 2nd leg after a 0-0 draw in France.
Now Man Utd are coming into this game on a bit of a bad run of form. Ever since knocking out PSG, United lost 3 of their next 4 games to Arsenal and twice to Wolves while the only win against Watford also weren’t very convincing so United are definitely not playing as well as they did about a month ago. Some would say the honeymoon period under Ole is now over, but we’ll just have to wait and see whether it’s just a small dip in form or are United back to being suspect again.
Barcelona themselves are playing great right now. No defeats since January, they’re coming off a massive momentum boosting win against Atletico at the weekend which pretty much sealed the league title for them. Barca are playing their best football of the season at the moment and look primed to go and hunt more trophies before the year ends.
Man Utd’s form at Old Trafford has been pretty good with just only 1 defeat in 9 games at home under Solskjaer (6W 2D). United have won each of their last 2 home games as well. Man Utd have weirdly been worse at home than away in the Champions League however as they’ve won just 1 home game in the competition which was a last min winner against Young Boys. United lost to both Juventus and PSG while drawing Valencia in their other home Champions League games. So despite domestically being good at home, United have been poor here in Europe and their away results have saved them for sure.
Barcelona’s away form is pretty solid. Unbeaten in 8 in a row, won 4 of last 5 including bagging 2 wins at the Bernabeu against Real Madrid and against Sevilla quite recently. Barcelona have yet to lose an away game in the CL this season winning 2 and drawing 2 and have already travelled to England once where they dispatched Tottenham 2-4. They also beat PSV but drew with both Inter and Lyon on their European travels elsewhere this season.
The man to watch for United has to be Paul Pogba. He’s not been in great form recently but Pogba is the man who runs the midfield and is a very dangerous player on his day, easily United’s best play when on form, we’ve seen what he’s capable off when he really gets going. A game like this is where players like Pogba show up and he’s going to have to be on his game if United want to win. Marcus Rashford would be another man to watch as he’s been in good form scoring 3 in his last 4 apps, but he is questionable to play with an injury so we won’t put him as the MAIN man to watch as he could potentially not even play.
It’s safe to say we all know who the man to watch for Barca. Lionel Messi without a doubt having one of his greatest ever seasons even for his standards he’s been absolutely ridiculous. Messi has the most CL goal contributions (8G 3A) and he’s not even started every game and his current form is just ridiculous as he has contributed to 13 goals in his last 6 apps for Barcelona (10G 3A). Messi has a great record against English opposition with 22 goals in 30 apps against such and has scored in each of his last 2 games against Man Utd (2009 and 2011 CL Finals) so adding all that up, expect Lionel to drop yet another masterclass.
Looking at H2H, Man Utd and Barcelona have not faced each other since 2011. Barcelona have beaten Man Utd in each of the last 2 meetings both being Champions League Finals as they beat United 2-0 in 2009 and 3-1 in 2011. Man Utd are however unbeaten against Barcelona at Old Trafford in CL in the 3 meetings (1W 2D) and have beaten them in the most recent meeting at Old Trafford 1-0 in 2008, however A LOT has changed since then.
Barcelona are odds on favourites to win this game at 2.00 and MASSIVE favourites to advance at 1.22 whereas Man Utd to win the 1st leg is 3.90 and to advance is 4.00. Draw is offered at 3.74 in this 1st leg. It’s understandable why Barca are such favourites with their current form and the way Messi is playing, but United have already knocked one giant out of the competition in PSG with everything stacked against them so being big underdogs isn’t anything new to them this season and it may very well work in their favour again. Odds are based on Unibet.
Team News
Manchester United: Eric Bailly and Antonio Valencia both remain out while Ander Herrera is also likely out. Nemanja Matic is questionable, however Marcus Rashford could return after missing out the most recent game against Wolves. Paul Pogba is available after being suspended against PSG.
Barcelona: Barca have no serious injury issues, Ousmane Dembele is expected to return into the side.
Betting Stats (UCL Based)
Man Utd have failed to cover any of their total goal overs at home in UCL this season (0-4).
Man Utd have failed to cover any of their total 1st half goal overs at home in UCL this season as well (0-1-3).
Man Utd average 2.75 bookings in UCL at home this season per game (11 bookings in 4 games). United had 7 of those booking in their most recent home game against PSG.
Marouane Fellaini is the only Man Utd player to score at Old Trafford as he has their lone home CL goal (United were held scoreless in 3 of 4 CL games at home). Fellaini isn’t with the club anymore however therefore none of the available United players have scored a home goal in CL yet this season. Shocking stat.
Man Utd are yet to cover any of their Handicaps at home in UCL this season (0-4).
Man Utd have also covered none of their 1st half Handicaps at home in UCL this season (0-4).
Barcelona have covered 25% of their total goal overs away from home in UCL this season (1-3).
Barcelona have covered 25% of their total 1st half goal overs away from home in UCL this season (1-3).
Barcelona average 1.75 bookings per game away from home in UCL this season (7 bookings in 4 games).
Lionel Messi has scored the most away goals in CL this season for Barcelona with 3 away European goals. He scored 2 in his last visit to England against Tottenham earlier this season.
Barcelona have covered 25% of their Handicaps away from home in the UCL this season (1-3).
Barcelona have covered 25% of their 1st half Handicaps away from home in the UCL this season (1-3).
KICK OFF – 10th April 2019 – 8pm UK Time
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