Due to the incredible success in the 1/8 finals, the arrival of Manchester United to the capital of Catalonia was considered exclusively through the prism of the battle with Paris Saint-Germain. That comeback instilled hope in English fans in the wards of Ole Gunnar Solskher, and a home defeat with a score of 0: 1 left more than real chances of reaching the first semi-finals from the 2010/10 season.
Camp Nou stadium could also be counted among the possible signs of success, and exactly 20 years ago the Red Devils first won the main club trophy of European football. Considering the fact that Solskher became one of the creators of that victory over Bavaria, his presence on the coaching bridge only strengthened his faith in the team’s success.
“Barcelona” could not but feel the pressure. During the Real Madrid era, in the Champions League, blue garnet invariably ended their way to the quarter-finals. Three years ago, they were stopped by Atletico Madrid, after which they were twice inferior to teams from Italy - Juventus and Roma. The last defeat was especially offensive: in the first match the Catalans won 4-1, but missed three unanswered goals in the second match and were forced to watch the rest of the tournament on TV.
One of the main issues was participation in the match of Lionel Messi. On "Old Trafford" the leader of the "blaugranny" broke his nose, which did not prevent him from playing to the end. However, he missed the national championship game with Huesca, which gave rise to speculation about his participation in the Champions League return game. As the coach himself Ernesto Valverde said, the Argentine recovered from the damage and was ready to enter the field.
If the Barcelona head coach limited himself to just one change in the squad, having sent Sergi Roberto to the right flank instead of Nelson Semedu, Sulscher decided on more serious changes. So, Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial appeared at the start, and the team switched to a scheme with two central defenders.
On the eve of this meeting, the English teams only once won the Spanish in the previous 23 matches of the Champions League playoffs. The first minutes gave hope that a second triumph could happen at Camp Nou. In just two minutes, the Sir Alexis created two dangerous moments at the gates of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, and Marcus Rushford’s thrust was only stopped by the crossbar. But as it turned out, the success of Manchester United was almost over.
“Barcelona” seized the initiative, established control, and already in the 11th minute was close to a goal. Ivan Rakitic hooked on Fred’s leg and fell in the opponent’s penalty area, while Chief Justice Felix Brykh pointed to the “point”. Footballers of the guests immediately attacked the German and by joint efforts convinced him to resort to the help of the video referee system (VAR). It was enough just one repetition to reconsider his decision and set a goal kick. In his opinion, the Brazilian first played the ball.
However, this failure only provoke Barcelona. The Catalans began to put pressure on their rival along the entire length of the field and very quickly provoked the British to make mistakes. The first mistake was made by Ashley Young, who arranged a replay with Fred at the border of the penalty area. Lionel Messi played on the interception, moved to the center and with his signature kick sent the ball exactly to the far corner. This goal was his first in six years at the stage of the quarter finals.
So Messi celebrated his 133 match in the Champions League. According to this indicator, he walked around Andres Iniesta and came in second place in the history of Barcelona. Xavi is leading, with 157 meetings.
Four minutes later, an Argentinian was 24 times distinguished in games with English teams. Messi again waited for the unsuccessful action from Fred and struck the bottom, and David de Gea reminded himself of the very sample of the World Cup in Russia. The goalkeeper reacted and formed in time, but the ball treacherously slipped under his torso. The Spaniard was the culprit of the third goal against his team this season. Among APL goalkeepers, only Jordan Pickford (4) and Asmir Begovic (5) were more often mistaken.
In the first 45 minutes, the “red devils” could brag with only two shots on target, and the “blaugrana” could bring the score to the crushing. Already in stoppage time, Messi made another cruise raid, during which he mocked Jones, and Jordi Alba shot at the incident Sergi Roberto. The Spaniard could only get into an empty corner of the goal, but de Gea miraculously saved the team from the third goal.
During the break, Solskjer confined himself to a motivating speech and did not make changes in the composition. In the absence of fresh blood and ideas, Sir Alex could not change the course of the meeting and create any serious problems for Gerard Piqué and his defensive partners. "Barcelona" continued to dominate in all areas of the field, and the percentage of possession of the ball gradually began to approach the ratio of 65:35.
At the 61st minute, Filipe Coutinho almost completely extinguished the fuse of Manchester United. The Brazilian responded to the long transfer of Messi, made a solo pass through the center of the field and with a powerful blow from 25 meters struck exactly into the top corner of the gate de Gea. Thus, Barcelona became the first team in a year and a half, who managed to score three goals from outside the penalty area in one match.
It was only after this that Solskjer decided on replacements, launching Diogo Dalot, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez on the field. The disgraced Chilean turned out to be the most useful and even had a good chance to excel. The forward responded to the overhang from the right side, but Ter Stegen played beyond all praise. Already in compensated time, Messi could get a hat-trick, but de Gea showed his best.
Barcelona scored three unanswered goals against Manchester United at Camp Nou and for the first time in four years reached the semifinal of the Champions League. The last time the Catalans reached this stage in the season 2015/16, in which they won the main trophy. In addition, the blue-garnet extended the unbeaten run in their field in the Champions League to 31 meetings. At the moment it is the longest in the framework of the main club tournament of the Old World.