Erik ten Hag speaks to BT Sport with a mixture of pride and irritation. “We dictated the game … apart from 15 minutes of the first half, when we had some difficulties, we dictated the game … we outplayed them … so many chances … so I was disappointed at half-time that it was 0-0, we should have scored … it was a great game … two attacking teams … it was really Champions League and even more than that … I really enjoyed the game … in the end it’s 2-2 and we have to finish it at Old Trafford … we have a lot of character and determination in this team … we turned it around when we were down … the referee had a big influence in this game … it was a clear foul on Rashy … it was a red card because he was one on one with the keeper … it’s a big influence not only on this game, but in this round … a referee cannot make this mistake … Rashford is in great form, but the whole team did well … it was a really good team performance … we had a lot of variation and a lot of opportunities … we should have won this game … if the game [at Old Trafford] is like this, I can imagine everyone will want to see this game!”
That was magnificent entertainment. Erik ten Hag looks reasonably content, even if his team couldn’t hold on for what would have been Manchester United’s first-ever win against Barcelona at Camp Nou. Xavi isn’t too happy, though. He’s right up in the referee’s grille, presumably having his say about Fred’s late handball which possibly should have led to a penalty. Fred did move his arm, which wasn’t close to his body, though close proximity may have saved the day. You could argue it both ways, as folk will presumably do, politely and respectfully, on the internet. But in truth neither team deserved to lose. Both contributed to a rip-roaring match that was entertaining enough during a goalless first half, but really took off when the nets started bulging with satisfying regularity. Maybe some imperfections on display by both sides will annoy the purists, but never mind them. That was fun with a capital Eff, and here’s to another cracker next week at Old Trafford. Nobody will want to miss that … and good luck predicting the outcome!
“Beating Barca at the Nou Camp in Europe ain’t as easy as some teams make it look.” Simon McMahon there, writing “with tear-stained fingers, channelling the spirit of Jim McLean.” Any old excuse to bung this superb piece up again!
FULL TIME: Barcelona 2-2 Manchester United
90 min +4: Gavi crosses deep from the left. Araujo competes at the far stick. His presence forces United into the concession of another corner, one the visitors hoick clear without too much fuss. That should be that.
90 min +3: Fati drifts in from the left and takes a shot. Deflected wide left for a corner. United clear it. Garnacho can’t control a long ball. Had he managed to do so, he’d have torn clear.
90 min +1: Kounde tries to release Torres down the right but overcooks the pass and it’s a goal kick.
90 min: Casemiro tees up Rashford, 25 yards out. Rashford tries to thread a shot into the bottom left but doesn’t catch it and it’s an easy claim for Ter Stegen. There will be four added minutes. Can there not be 44? Please? This is so much fun.
89 min: Fernandes spurns a chance to release Rashford. Malacia dribbles down the left and nearly makes it into the box. Neither side are settling for the draw!
87 min: The free kick’s hoicked into the mixer. Casemiro, disoriented, crashes the ball off the left-hand post! United hack clear. The ball’s returned. Fati creams a shot goalwards from ten yards only for De Gea to sensationally block! How have United kept Barca out there?!
86 min: No penalty, says VAR. United may have got away with one there, because Fred’s arm wasn’t by the side of his body. But now there’s a free kick to defend.
85 min: Fati likes the look of it. He shapes to shoot, but dinks it into the mixer instead. Some head tennis. Barcelona claim a penalty Roberto glances the ball onto Fred’s arm. This will be checked by VAR.
84 min: Gavi busies himself along the inside-left channel and is upended by Casemiro, who’s on a booking and wants to watch himself. Just a free kick.
83 min: Ferran Torres, formerly of Manchester City, comes on for Raphinha. A surprising sub, given Raphinha’s just scored and has played well. He’s not happy as he stomps into the dugout.
82 min: Sancho is replaced by Garnacho.
81 min: … Fati looks for the top-right corner only to curl high and wide
80 min: Good luck predicting how this is going to end. Rashford is sent into the Barca box down the right. He’s got time and space but slashes wide right. Ter Stegen launches long. Shaw heads weakly back towards De Gea. Raphinha nips in and attempts to loop a header over the keeper, who gets a fingertip to limit the damage to a corner kick. And from that …
78 min: What an impact Casemiro’s made, huh. He’s been magnificent tonight, but that was a costly mistake all right.
GOAL! Barcelona 2-2 Manchester United (Raphinha 76)
Barcelona were beginning to look impotent. But United offer them a gift. Shaw plays out loosely from the back. Casemiro tries to help only to clank the ball straight to Kounde, who finds Raphinha on the right. Raphinha whips in low. Lewandowski looks to flick towards the bottom left. He doesn’t make contact but the ball flies straight in anyway! The hosts level! Out of nothing!
74 min: Lewandowski nearly releases Gavi down the left with a delicate flick. But with Gavi about to burst into the box, Casemiro comes across to take control of the situation, stepping in to spirit the ball away. What an impact he’s made.
73 min: Fred bombs down the middle. He’s got Rashford and Weghorst waiting to be sprung clear, but can’t make the pass because Gavi takes one for the team by taking a handful of his opponent’s shirt. Into the book he goes.
72 min: Raphinha nutmegs Malacia and is shoved in the chest for his trouble. Malacia goes into the book.
70 min: Roberto lands on Weghorst’s ankle, studs up. The director doesn’t care to show the challenge in detail, suffice to say Roberto is fortunate that Weghorst didn’t make a big deal of the challenge. It didn’t look great. Happily nobody’s hurt.
69 min: Fred glides in from the right. He has options but drags a dismal shot wide instead.
68 min: Finally, the free kick. Lewandowski sends a poor effort over the bar. “Your mention of Marcos Alonso’s dad playing in the 1980s had me diving for a metaphorical reference book and, sure enough, Marcos Alonso Snr. was in the Barca team done over 3-0 at OT on March 21st 1984,” writes Adam Roberts, giving me another excuse to trail this …
67 min: Barca make a triple change. On come Fati, Christensen and Balde for Alonso, Alba and Kessie.
66 min: Gavi goes up the other end and draws a foul from Fred. A free kick just outside the United box. Before it can be taken, the referee books Casemiro and Erik ten Hag for arguing the toss re the penalty that wasn’t..
64 min: Rashford tears after a long pass down the right. He enters the box and comes off second best in a barge with Kounde. He wants a penalty, but he’s not getting it. He possibly should have, though. There was contact. Was it in the box? Maybe, maybe not. One for VAR. But they’re not even getting a free kick.
62 min: Barca deal with the set piece easily enough. But they’re struggling to hold onto the ball up the other end. United are suddenly swanning around one of the great cathedrals in world football with some pomp. To think they couldn’t beat Young Boys home or away last season! That seems an awfully long time ago now.
61 min: That’s stunned the Camp Nou. United are up for more, as well. Fred sends Rashford away down the left. The ball’s worked to Wan-Bissaka on the right. He shoots. The ball’s deflected wide right for another corner.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-2 Manchester United (Kounde og 59)
United go up the other end and win a corner of their own. Shaw plays it short to Rashford, who dribbles along the byline before firing low through the six-yard box. Fernandes backflicks, six yards out, shades of Lee Sharpe all those years ago at Old Trafford. The ball pings off Kounde’s chest at the far stick and into the net. What a turnaround!
58 min: Barca help United out by over-complicating the corner, playing it short and fannying about.