UEFA Champions League 2019 has stepped into its quarter-final first leg stages on Tuesday with Liverpool claiming a 2-0 win over FC Porto at the Anfield while in the other match-up Manchester City faced a 1-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the latter’s new stadium.
On Wednesday, there will be two clashes – Manchester United vs FC Barcelona at the Old Trafford and Ajax vs Juventus at the Johan Cruijff Arena.
Premier League giants Manchester United are up for the biggest European test this season as they take on Barcelona in the quarter-finals first leg of the UEFA Champions League 2018-19 on Wednesday at the Old Trafford in Manchester.
While United scripted an incredible turnaround to beat Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in Paris during the pre-quarters, Barca annihilated Olympique Lyonnais.
Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær said, “Every game is the biggest game. Of course when you get Barcelona, with the quality of their team, we know we need to step up our game.”
Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona coach said, “We want to score away from home and we’re going out to win the game. In these situations you can’t speculate. You can’t think exclusively about defending or attacking. You’ve got to combine both. We’re confident. We’ve responded well to difficult moments this season.”
Head to head:
- In Champions League, United have only 1 win in 8 games against Barcelona.
- Barcelona have beaten Man Utd in 2009, 2011 UCL finals.
- Manchester United have never lost a home European match against Barcelona (W2, D2, L0).
- Barcelona won the last Champions League meeting between the two in 2011 finals by 3-1 at Wembley.
Team News:
Manchester United:
Man Utd have a long list of injured players- Alexis Sanchez (knee), Antonio Valencia (fitness), Eric Bailly (concussion) and Matteo Darmian (unknown). While Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic are also doubtful for the UCL quarter-finals first leg clash.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): David de Gea; Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw; Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Diogo Dalot; Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Romelu Lukaku
Barcelona:
While Rafinha would be left out due to knee injury, Ousmane Dembele is also doubtful for the UCL quarter-finals first leg match-up against Manchester United.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Marc-André ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Philippe Coutinho.
UEFA Champions League 2019, Quarter-Final first leg: Ajax vs Juventus preview
