Sloppy geniuses - Barça's strange win at Manchester United

Bundesliga

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Scene of the match: For over two minutes, the players matched the ball until Sergio Busquets overlapped United's defensive line. Lionel Messi headed for the second post, where Luis Suárez headed the ball in the opposite direction to goalkeeper David De Gea. As defender Luke Shaw faked the ball still unhappy, it was after twelve minutes 0: 1. The hit was preceded by a series of 48 passes of the guests, in which all Barça players were on the ball. A goal in perfection.

Así ha sido el 0-1. Han sido 48 pases en los que han intervenido TODOS los jugadores del Barça y en el que solo ha habido dos contactos de United esférico (despeje de Smalling y autogol de Shaw). Dos minutos y 14 segundos de rondo.

UNA OBRA DE ARTE MADE IN BARÇA. pic.twitter.com/S4Wxjy3ztR

The result: FC Barcelona won the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at Manchester United 1-0 (1-0). Click here for the game report.

The first half: At first it looked like a bitter evening for United. Started anxiously, they ran almost exclusively behind the players from Barcelona. But the goal was a wake-up call for United - and a sleeping pill for Barça. Once they lost the ball, the order was gone. Buoyed by rarely-seen build errors (alone Jordi Alba and Clément Lenglet posted a whopping 14 ball losses in the first 45 minutes), United took chances for Ashley Young (19th minute), Marcus Rashford (21st) and Diogo Dalot (40th). On the opposite side Philippe Coutinho failed to de Gea (36).

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Angry, cheering Suárez: Of course, the attacker beamed for the goal to 1-0, the Uefa officials would he metaphorically but certainly like to go to the throat, as they evaluated the only slightly deflected opening goal as the own goal of Shaw. So it remains that in Old Trafford as an ex-Liverpooler especially hated Uruguayans since 16 September 2015 (1: 1 in the Roma) has not met abroad in the Champions League. The hit into his own net was for Shaw also only half the trouble: After a foul on Messi he saw his third yellow card in the competition and is missing in the second leg.

The second half: The hosts managed to shift the game more and more often into the opponent's attack third, without coming to clear options. However, Barça was not able to free himself from his sloppy game under construction. Thus, the game simulated 20 minutes of excitement, without this being reflected in noteworthy. In the 65th minute it was again Suárez, who forced De Gea with a shot to a parade.

Ball possession as a key: Who as a fan of the statistics after a quarter of an hour was a look at the numbers, has been flooded by a slight shiver of excitement. 90 percent possession of the ball for FC Barcelona, ​​whose players on the lawn brought a pass rate of more than 96 percent. If they had gone on like that, they did not.

Barcelona should try again to keep the ball longer. They are not too good if they do not have it #MUNBAR

Old harmless: United remained in the fourth of five home games in this Champions League season without a goal. Only against Young Boys Bern they met once in the group stage. That's not the record of a future semi-finalist in the premier class.

The Vidal-Cam: In the 65th minute, the ex-Munich Arturo Vidal came on as a substitute in the Catalan, only seconds later he started to a breath-taking streak, which remained without consequences. Five ball contacts and two fouls later he saw in the 71st minute yellow. In extra time he jumped in his own penalty in Chris Smalling, who was so frightened by this awkwardness that he forgot to fall over and demand a penalty. Vidal - just a fascinating footballer.

The second leg: Next Tuesday in Barcelona it will be the second leg (21 clock, live ticker SPIEGEL ONLINE). And even though it is FC Barcelona and although they have won away, that 1-0 is not the same as getting ahead. United have turned the duel at Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 and Barça showed the shakiness that cost them progress in the preseason in the second leg against the Roma.

Manchester United - FC Barcelona 0: 1 (0: 1)
0: 1 Shaw (12th, own goal)
Manchester: De Gea - Lindelof, Smalling, Shaw - A. Young, Diogo Dalot (74th Jesse Lingard) - Fred, McTomay, Pogba - Rashford (85th Andreas Pereira), R. Lukaku (68th Anthony Martial)
Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Nelson Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Jordi Alba - S. Busquets (90th + 3 Carles Alena) - Rakitic, Arthur (66th Sergi Roberto) - Messi, Coutinho (66th Arturo Vidal) - Suarez
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (Italy)
Yellow Cards: Shaw, Smalling, Lingard - Busquets, Vidal
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