Barcelona vs Man United Preview
There was a time when Barcelona vs Man United was a fixture reserved exclusively for Champions League nights. Manager departures, mismanagement in the transfer market and misadventures both on and off the field have left Manchester United and Barcelona in a perpetual state of rebuilding. But for the first time in a long time, it feels like both teams have found managers in Xavi and Erik ten Hag who can bring sustained success to their clubs.
Barcelona lead LaLiga (and we give them a 93.2% chance of staying there come the end of 2022-23) while Manchester sit third in the Premier League (we give them a 61.6% chance of staying there and a 12.6% chance finishing second).
There is a level of competence at Barcelona not seen since Ernesto Valverde managed the club to back-to-back LaLiga titles from 2017 to 2018. But despite winning their Champions League group and sitting top of the league by the new year, poor performances saw Valverde sacked in January 2020.
Manchester United have found themselves in the Europa League in three of the last four years and haven’t realistically challenged for a Premier League title in a decade – this May will mark exactly 10 years since their last league title under Alex Ferguson – but belief is strong and building that Ten Hag can bring back the glory days.
Both teams would prefer to test their new-found competence in the biggest European competition but, for now, it’s Thursday night football for the two. It provides a very realistic chance for silverware for both managers in their first full seasons in charge of their clubs.
This is the ‘Sleeping Giants Derby’ but both of these behemoths of yesteryear are showing signs of waking up.
Barcelona and Manchester United have faced each other 13 times in all competitions (six Barcelona wins, three Man Utd wins, three draws). The first three were in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, while each of the previous 10 have come in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United have won each of their last five matches in Europe. Only once before have they won six games consecutively in European competition (their first six games of the 1965-66 season in the European Cup).
For Barça, well, they’ve lost five of their last 11 European matches at Camp Nou (W2 D4) – their previous five such defeats were spread across 101 games between 2002 and 2020.
The home side will be missing Sergio Busquets who picked up an ankle injury during Sunday night’s victory over Villarreal in LaLiga. Franck Kessie stepped in beside Frenkie de Jong in a double pivot to replace the Spanish veteran midfielder at the weekend, and expect the same on Thursday. Ousmané Dembélé remains out with a hamstring injury.
United’s two long-term injury absentees are Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek but Ten Hag can call upon Casemiro again after missing the Brazilian due to a red card suspension in the last two games (both against Leeds) after getting sent off against Crystal Palace.
