Europa League - Manchester United at home to Barcelona to keep unbeaten record

2023-02-23 16:16

Europa League - Manchester United at home to Barcelona to keep unbeaten record


The second round of the UEFA Europa League play-offs in the 2022/23 season will stage another focus match. The "Red Devils" Manchester United at Old Trafford will face the La Liga giants Barcelona, and one of them will directly advance to the Europa League if they win Cup round of 16.


When the two sides met in the first leg, Manchester United relied on Rashford and an own goal to take the lead, but Alonso and Rafinha also scored goals. In the end, Manchester United drew 2-2 with Harvey at the Nou Camp. Barcelona shook hands.


Returning to Old Trafford for this campaign, Ten Hag's team has achieved 13 unbeaten home games in all competitions. The last loss was the first round of Group E of the Europa League in September last year. Lost to Real Sociedad in La Liga. Therefore, Manchester United, which has the home court advantage, will definitely make a strong team to win the tickets to advance to the top 16.


In addition, Barcelona has also achieved an unbeaten record of 18 games in all competitions, and has maintained a complete victory in the La Liga in 2023. However, in the previous Champions League group stage, they only defeated Pilsen, which caused Harvey's team to have no advantage in this campaign. .


It should be noted that although Barcelona have scored 17 clean sheets and conceded only 7 goals in La Liga this season, they have conceded 14 goals in 7 games in European competitions, which hides hidden worries in defense.


In terms of lineup, Barcelona has Pedri's injury and Garvey's suspension. The midfielder's strength has been tested, and whether Manchester United's Rashford can continue to maintain the rhythm of scoring is also one of the focuses of this campaign.


In addition, after the Serie A giants Juventus drew 1-1 with the Ligue 1 team Nantes at home in the first round, they will go to the away game to challenge Nantes again.


Juventus had achieved 3 consecutive victories in Serie A before, and all players had high morale, while Nantes lost 1-3 to Lens in the earlier Ligue 1 away game. Since this campaign is played at home, Nantes will definitely take advantage of this advantage to repel Juventus and break into the top 16. Juventus can only try their best to overcome the disadvantage of away games and avoid being eliminated in the European war for 4 consecutive seasons.