Barcelona take on the visitors Manchester United in the first leg of UEFA Europa League 1/16-final round. The match will be played on Thursday, February 16th at Camp Nou (Barcelona).
Messi's departure, combined with financial problems, meant that last season it was not possible to take a single trophy. In this regard, Xavi finally succeeded by winning the Super Cup - also winning in the decisive match 3-1 against Real Madrid. In addition, it turned out thanks to its almost perfect statistics in the winter segment, in combination with the very regular misfires of the Galacticos allowed to break away. Villarreal did not become a barrier – even with the current team of Setien limited to a single goal. In addition, “more than a club” is already in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey – a stage earlier managed to knock out a strong “Real Sociedad”, however, at the cost of Ousmane Dembele's injury. But in the international arena, autumn comes around, which was not the most successful. With all the trump cards of the young mentor, while this generation of Barca went down in history when it did not reach the playoffs of the Champions League again. This time, in addition to the “usual” failure with Bayern, there was a defeat in the dispute for 2nd place in the quartet to Inter.
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Manchester United have been playing in the Europa League since the very beginning of the draw - more precisely, from the group stage. This was reflected in the failure of last season, when the grandees finished outside the top 4 and were left without the Champions League. And ten Hag was called, first of all, to return to the main European Cup. And with not the best results of the autumn segment, now the “Mancunians” are really good. They have established themselves among the leaders of Manchester United, moreover, the struggle continues in other tournaments, and in the League Cup they have even reached the final. But it is worth remembering that because of this you have to play without the slightest pause, playing twice a week. Hence, it seems, and such misfires as draws with Crystal Palace and Leeds. However, on Sunday the same “whites” were beaten, 2-0. So, perhaps Eric, whether he wants to or not, will be forced to apply rotation in Catalonia.
Only once, in 2008, did Manchester United beat (and pass) Barcelona. But a year later Barca took revenge by winning the final, in 2011 they repeated it. In 2019, the sides crossed again, in the quarterfinals, and then Bluagrana beat the Red Devils twice dry. Given the fact that Manchester United lost to Real Sociedad in the fall, I don’t particularly believe in the success of the British at the Camp Nou. We bet that Xavi's wards will be able to extend their winning streak to the Europa League.
Prediction for the match: Barcelona to win.
