Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag will be hoping to mastermind a victory over Barcelona on Thursday night.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is missing seven players ahead of his side’s crunch showdown with Barcelona. The Red Devils go into the first leg of their Europa League tie looking to secure a vital victory over in Catalonia. However, that will be easier said than done given the fine form of Xavi’s side.
United will travel to Barcelona having won five of their six Europa League matches so far this season.
And their mission will be made harder by the absences of Marcel Sabitzer and Lisandro Martinez, with the pair both missing through suspension.
Sabitzer is unavailable after picking up a yellow card suspension with parent club Bayern Munich, who he joined from at the end of last month.
And Martinez saw his hopes of playing dashed after picking up a third booking of the group stages during the 1-0 win over Real Sociedad back in November.
On top of that, United also have injuries to contend with.
Christian Eriksen won’t kick a ball again until the end of the campaign, having been ruled out until late April or early May.
The Denmark international has been a vital player for Erik ten Hag but, after being crocked in the 3-1 win over Reading at the end of last month, will have to watch on from home.
Donny van de Beek has been ruled out until the end of the season, with many believing he’s played his last game for the club.
Scott McTominay is also sidelined at the current moment in time, too.
And United are still without Antony and Anthony Martial, with the pair picking up their own injuries in recent weeks.
Both players weren’t sighted in training prior to the match against Barcelona.
And that means there’s an expectancy United will have to do without their two forwards as they look to continue their charge towards silverware.
With Martinez unavailable, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof are in contention to start alongside Raphael Varane.
And, with Antony and Martial expected to miss out, a front four of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst is feasible.
Speaking ahead of the game with Barcelona to UEFA, meanwhile, Ten Hag was full of praise for Xavi’s side.
“As a player, I admired him,” he said.
That Barcelona team when he played, he was an important part of it, and you can see that philosophy he brings to Barcelona now.
“I really like his team, the way of attacking, the attacking way of play. He’s doing really well, and I think he’s in the right direction.
“It’s going to be a really good challenge between Manchester United and Barcelona.”
And Xavi then returned the compliment, with the Spaniard saying: “Manchester United, in my opinion, is a big club in Europe.
“Of course, they are not in the best moment of their history, but they are Manchester United so we respect them a lot. We respect Ten Hag and all the players.
“They are now in a very good moment, they are positive, they have had good results in the last [few] weeks so it’s very difficult.
“Even though we are in the Europa League, we respect them a lot. It will be really tough and really difficult to beat them.”
SOURCE: express.co.uk
