Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is of the view that Barcelona still remain a strong team even as they will be without influential midfielders Pedri and Gavi, and French ace Ousmane Dembele ahead of the crunch Europa League second leg knockout round playoff tie at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Both sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou last week, which leaves the return leg all to play for, with the Blaugrana’s missing Pedri and Gavi through injury and suspension respectively.
It has given a sense the game will easily go United’s way with home advantage on their side. Ten Hag however thinks Barca have options that can step up in the absence of the young Spanish duo.
“I don’t know Xavi’s thinking but it’s obvious Gavi, Pedri are great players,” the former Ajax manager said ahead of the game.
“Although they are very young, they have a positive effect on the game of Barcelona. But also, their squad, there is so much depth in it, they have players who can replace them. It will be a very good team from Barcelona, if we want to win, we have to play our best.”
Maintaining our focus 🧠#MUFC || #UEL pic.twitter.com/aae7CKxrsZ
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 22, 2023
After Thursday’s encounter, the Red Devils will be up against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and while the prospect of lifting a first trophy in six years is enticing, Ten Hag is not distracted by it and is focused on getting into the Europa League Round of 16.
“We have the opportunity [to win a trophy on Sunday], but the first focus point is always the next game and in that, we can’t win a trophy this week,” he continued.
“We have to go from game to game as the focus, but especially, you have to keep in the same mindset that every day we want to give a better version of ourselves.
“When you are facing such big teams as Barcelona, you have to play your best, otherwise you don’t have a chance. So, we want to get through, to get to the next round and we have to give the best performance from this season. We believe in it, we’re looking forward to it, so it gives us a lot of energy.”
Other Europa League fixtures on Thursday will see Roma try to reverse their 1-0 deficit against Salzburg while Union Berlin and Ajax will battle it out again after the goalless draw in Amsterdam. Another Dutch team in PSV Eindhoven face a herculean task in overturning their 3-0 first leg loss over Sevilla.
French outfits Monaco and Nantes will hope to make home advantage count when they take on Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus respectively. Danish team FC Midtjylland will also want to use home advantage to upset Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon after the 1-1 first leg draw.
