Spanish La Liga Barcelona and English Premier League (EPL) Manchester United (Man United) drew in the first confrontation heading to the round of 16 of the European Football Association (UEFA) Europa League. The match was not overshadowed, but on the stage of ‘Little Star’, 온라인바카라he showed off as hot attacking football as on the stage of ‘Big Star’ and thrilled the fans.
Barcelona and Manchester United recorded a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the Europa League playoffs (PO) held at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain on the 17th. Barcelona finished third in the UEFA Champions League group stage, while Manchester United finished second in the Europa League group stage. The top team in the Europa League 8 groups advances directly to the round of 16, but the second place team plays PO with the third place team in the Champions League group stage.
The match, which was expected to be a head-to-head match between the big clubs of the top 5 European leagues, was tight from the beginning of the game. Although Barcelona was slightly ahead of Manchester United in possession (58%) and shots on target (8), the two teams played a back-and-forth game, recording 18 (Barcelona) and 17 (Man United) shots, respectively.
It was Barcelona that tilted the weight of the tense game first. No goal was scored in the first half, but Marcos Alonso (33, Spain) headed a corner kick from Rafinha (27, Brazil) in the 5th minute of the second half. The 80,000 fans who filled Barcelona’s living room cheered in unison, but Alonso drew attention by raising one hand with his eyes closed. Alonso said, “His father passed away recently, so he thought of his father after scoring a goal.”
It was a meaningful opening goal, but Barcelona’s lead did not last long. 3 minutes later, in the 8th minute of the second half, Marcus Rashford (26), who received a pass from Fred (30), quickly broke through the right side and kicked the ball low, shaking the net. Rashford, who scored the equalizer, created another goal opportunity in the 14th minute of the second half. The ball Rashford raised from a corner kick hit the body of Barcelona defender Jules Kunde (25) and headed for the goal after a hassle before the goal.
If Man Utd’s Rashford contributed to both goals, Barcelona had Rafinha who helped the opening goal. In the 31st minute of the second half, when Rafinha was trailing 1-2, he broke through from the right and crossed, and the ball was sucked into the goal.
Barcelona coach Xabi Hernández said, “I think Man United is coming back,” and said, “We showed the best version.” Man Utd coach Eric Tenhagh said, “I am grateful to Rashford for showing solid performance,” and “If we had scored the opening goal, the result would have been different.”
The two teams who couldn’t decide the match that day will face each other again for tickets to the round of 16 in the second leg of the PO held at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s hometown on the 24th.