Manchester United vs Barcelona, summary: Antony goal, goals, stats & highlights | Europa League 22/23

Signing off...

OK, that's all from me for tonight!

Thanks for following what has been a super-exciting week in European football!

Here's a roundup of the games we've covered in the Champions League:

Thanks again and see you soon!

Joe

Beating Barça - not a bad birthday present!

Casemiro turned 31 today, and that's some way to celebrate!

Sofascore ratings below:

What a topsy-turvy game of football!

Sergio Busquets post-match:

We had a good first half, but we went backwards, they are a good team.

We took the lead and could have got the 2-0.

The things changed in the second half, they created danger and found the free man. 

We tried, we had chances, it’s a shame. Small details have decided the tie, it was very even. 

I don't think it was intensity, the team was fine, during the game there are very difficult situations, there’s no need to find the guilty person. 

We didn’t have luck in the Champions League draw, then a lot of incredible things happened during the games.

The opponent is in a great run of form, they’re one of the best teams in Europe.

This won’t affect us, I think. We’re annoyed but we want to continue and the team knows where we are going.

Xavi post-match:

The goal damaged us, we lost the individual battles, they were very intense.

The first half was very good, it was a very even pair of games, we were comfortable in the first half.

It wasn’t to be, they are in great form and we played well. 

Now its time to concentrate on the competitions we’re still in.

They’re very physically strong, just like in the second and first goals. The first goal hurt us a lot.

Very even ties are decided on small details, it's a shame for us.

We are a lot better than last season, we’ve played against Bayern, Inter and Manchester United, time to try again next year.

Congratulations to Manchester United.

Kounde instant post-match reaction:

We lost control, we’re very disappointed.

We have to give credit to the opponent, they stepped up in the second half and made it tough for us. But we fought and we’re disappointed.

We thank the fans, we felt the support and we are disappointed for them, we wanted to win the tournament.

We had a lot of injuries in the Champions League, the teams are more difficult, we had a difficult draw vs Bayern, Inter and then Manchester United.

This is good for us to take another step forward.

We feel disappointment, it's not a failure because it was an even game.

We will keep growing and getting better.

Match report: full time

Well, it wasn't to be for Barça, who go out after conceding two second half goals at Old Trafford to Manchester United. 

They competed well and were worthy of their first half lead, which saw Manchester United struggle to create; with Weghorst and Rashford isolated on the pitch, Barça ran riot across the midfield and created plenty of chances to put themselves in the driving seat.

Then came the changes from Ten Hag, who took off Weghorst and played Antony down the right with Bruno Fernandes in the middle, to instant success, as Fred scored just after the game resumed.

The Brazilian influence would carry on as Antony got the second, again after good work from Bruno Fernandes, who did well to find space to play a dangerous ball inside the box to create danger.

From then on, the momentum was completely with the home side, who, spurred on by the crowd, started to control the game and turn up the dials on the intensity-o-meter; by the end, things looked like a foregone conclusion, depsite some late chances for Xavi's side.

FT: Manchester United 2-1 FC Barcelona (Agg: 4-3)

FULL TIME!

Barcelona are eliminated from the Europa League!

Cut out by Varane...

Time for one final attack for Barça

Into the final minute...

WHAT A STOP FROM VARANE OFF THE LINE

LEWANDOWSKI WAS THROUGH AND DE GEA WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN

SO CLOSE FROM ANSU!

The cross came in from Ferran on the right; Ansu got to the ball but his header went behind.

Manchester United are sat back as Barça try to play through them.

Barcelona try to build up through the back, but Manchester United stand firm...

5 added minutes.

Varane celebrates a vital interception as though it were a goal; Ferran tried to play Ansu in behind.

Into the last minute.

Manchester United are winning 4-3 on aggreagate as it stands.

De Jong's outside of the boot attempt through the lines to Ferran looks lovely but is hit terribly and the Manchester United defence dweep up with ease.

Rashford OFF

McTominay ON

Alonso tries a pass over the top to Kessie but it turns out he's not actually Pedri in disguise and fails to pluck the ball out of the air with the same nonchalance that makes us all jealous of that child.

Casemiro booked for pulling Lewandowski down as he launched a counter-attack. Very sly, Case...

Garnacho goes down; Busquets booked. 

Ansu and Lewandowski almost link up on the edge of the box but the pass by the Polish striker is cut out.

Araujo OFF

Marcos Alonso ON

A huge one-two between Fred and Garnacho sees the winger burn past Kounde down the left and create a chance for Rashford that's blocked- Barça are in trouble here.

Rashford then gets in again and fires a shot high into the side netting, causing a few fans on the other side of the stadium to scream: they thought it went in.

Garnacho is booked for a nasty foul on Kounde. If I knew any Justin Bieber songs, I'd probably make a terrible pun. 

So far, we're seeing the same scoreline pattern as the first leg - will Barça get the second goal this time?

Raphinha OFF

Ansu ON

Back underway. Barça with it all to do.

Bruno did well on the left to push Raphinha off the ball and play the ball across to Garnacho, who saw his shot blocked. 

It landed, after a few bounces between players, to Antony, who hit a typical shot across goal into the far corner past Ter Stegen.

Old Trafford erupts!

Lewandowski is down injured, as is Casemiro.

On second viewing, the Barça striker stood on the ankle of the ex-Madrid man.

Casemiro, ever the warrior, is up, but limping.

Sergi Roberto OFF

Ferran ON

Into the last 20 minutes...

Manchester United attack, as Garnacho gets his first touches. 

Ter Stegen collects a high ball from Fred. 

This half, it's been Casemiro who has turned into the midfield boss.

Let's see if Garnacho's Justin Bieber haircut gives him special powers...

Wan-Bissaka and Sancho OFF

Dalot and Garnacho ON

Alex Ferguson spotted in the crowd next to Howard Wilkinson, who remains the last English manager to win the English top division, with Leeds United in 1991/92.

Kessie hits an ambitious shot from the edge of the box and De Gea swallows it up.

WHAT A SAVE FROM DE GEA!

Kounde hits a perfect header into the top corner but De Gea's dive is even more perfect and the ball goes out for a corner.

Ter Stegen comes out to collect a long ball to Rashford. Raphinha had lost it after a poor decision in a Barcelona counter-attack.

Antony breaks down the right but his cross is poor and Barça clear. The defence had an extra second to get back as the winger put the ball onto his left foot.

Raphinha dives in and intercepts a pass that was aimed for Rashford in behind. A vital block. Barça are on the ropes every time they have to defend,.

Bruno Fernandes and Sergi Roberto are booked after a bit of pushing and shoving breaks out.

CHANCE FOR MANCHESTER UNITED!

Fred broke down the left and couldn't be stopped by the Barça defence. He was allowed all the way round past the corner flag and into the box, but his cross went nowhere, rolling across the box.

Barça attack with Balde, but Lisandro gets on the end of the cross.

Manchester United attack with Fred.

Antony's shot is saved by Ter Stegen. Another half chance for the home team. Barça can't give too many of them away: the quality of player Manchester United have means that they won't be half-chances every time.

The roles are completely reversed here, Barcelona are making mistakes and falling over like drunk giraffes. 

Silly fouls are creeping in and they can't find any of the control they had in the first half.

Casemiro makes it to the edge of the box but Busquets gets in before he can get the shot away.

Rashford makes a driving run down the right and after his cross attempt is blocked, takes on Araujo and hits a low shot into the side netting.

The noise inside Old Trafford has risen 600 levels and Manchester United are starting to pop the ball around like everyone imagined they would.

Xavi, obviously, looks like quite an unhappy bunny rabbit.

Rashford gets on the end of a low ball from a free-kick and takes one touch too many before he's forced to play it back.

ANTONY ALMOST MAKES IT TWO

Casemiro slides a pass behind the lines for Antony to run onto. The winger makes contact but his shot/cross is driven wide of goal!

Barça fail to get the ball out, Bruno spins on the edge of the box and finds Fred on the right who smashes a low shot past Ter Stegen. 

The perfect start for Manchester United!

And we're off!

Sergi Roberto gets us going.

Antony on the right, Rashford on the left, Bruno down the middle.

Wout Weghorst OFF

Antony ON

Both teams are back out on the pitch - here we go!

Antony is coming on for the second half...

Not the greatest half from Wout...

I said he looked as though he had lead in his socks. This just shows the high dominance of the Barça midfield, nobody for Manchester United is getting anything worthwhile in the attacking areas of the pitch.

Here's how the other games look at the moment:

But of course, and no need to whisper it, this is the best one of the night.

The goals monster is at it again

25 goals in 30 games this season! 

Half time: Manchester United 0-1 FC Barcelona

Well, I for one was not expecting such a well-drilled, confident, assured performance from Barcelona, who have just nullified one of the form teams in Europe. 

Balde has been a constant menace down the left, and are we sure that's not Pedri in a Kessie shirt?

De Gea's mistake was the perfect encapsulation of the nerves that had started to creep in for Erik ten Hag's side, and Sergi Roberto had the chance to make it two, if it were not for Casemiro.

Marcus Rashford has had a few chances to make his way into the box, and Bruno had one effort saved well by Ter Stegen, but big things need to change for the home side who have been out-fought and out-run in every second of the game so far.

Araujo has been excellent along with Christensen, but I could probably name the entire XI from Barça at the moment, not one of them has put a foot wrong so far. Let's see what changes, if any, Ten Hag makes to his side for the second half.

Half time!

Manchester United really need the half-time break... Barcelona are dominating in every aspect of the game.

2 minutes added.

WHAT A HUGE CHANCE FOR BARCELONA!!!!!

De Gea's pass out from the back lands to Sergi Roberto on the edge of the box but Casemiro slides in and stops the shot at the last second!

He then gets in the way of Kessie's shot just seconds after!

Into the last minute of the half...

Barça's press, yet again, stops Manchester United from having the ball for longer than a few seconds and Lisandro hits an aimless ball all the way through the lines to Ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal.

De Jong's free-kick is headed by Casemiro but the ball bounces off his head and behind for a corner. Gasps come from the crowd, they thought it was in.

Barcelona complete a wonderful move, left to right and back again on the edge of the Manchester United box; the confidence is flowing from all sides of this team right now.

RAPHINHA FIRES OVER THE BAR

Another good move from Barça ends with a wild shot from the winger, who really wants to score.

Raphinha hangs his head after Sergi Roberto and Lewandowski have a bit of a mix up in the middle of the pitch, and as a result they fail to see the run the Brazilian had made. 

Great pressure from Barça forces Erik Ten Hag's side all the way back to goal, before a long ball gives the Spanish side possession once again.

What a performance so far from Balde, who won the ball back before setting up a counter attack on the other side of the pitch thanks to a mazy run through the mass of players.

Manchester United have a sustained period of attacking pressure that ends with Fred'scross, which he hits so terribly off-course that it almost dips over Ter Stegen and goes in the goal. 

De Jong does well to cover for Balde who was caught out while Bruno broke forward. Teamwork.

It's a very disciplined performance so far from Barcelona, who are choosing their moments to attack in a very calm and assured manner. They know they have the players to create danger when the moments arise. 

Casemiro slides in on Kounde (who is at right-back) as he makes his way forward.

Rashford tries a nice ball through the lines to Weghorst but Barça hold their shape and it looks like the Dutch striker has lead in his socks.

Over half an hour gone, and things are looking quite positive for Xavi's side. 

Kounde clears a square ball inside the box as Manchester United arrived for the first time in a while.

Lisandro steps in crucially before De Jong can get on the end of a pass that would have seen both him and Lewandowski through on goal on their own. 

Barcelona are defending well in their block, and Manchester United have struggled to find Rashford over the past 5 minutes.

Kessie ran and ran and ran all the way past the Manchester defence, into the box with the ball before Lisandro stepped in and tackled him at the last minute. 

Christensen makes two brilliant interceptions in the space of 2 seconds as Manchester United try to force the ball towards the penalty spot. 

De Jong and Sergi Roberto make two slices of bread with Bruno in the middle as he gets crushed in an Iberian sandwich.

Is that Pedri wearing a Kessie mask?

The midfielder slips and slides past the challenges, laying off a nice ball to Balde on the other wing, but the touch from the left-back is just too heavy and the home side recover.

Bruno strikes a volley from a ludicrously difficult long ball, again from that right side. Ter Stegen saves easily.

Araujo is back on the pitch and looks OK.

Lewandowski goes down in the box after a nice pass from Kessie. Referee says no, sir.

We've restarted here.

Araujo is down receiving treatment.

Safe to say they're happy about that in Cataluña!

It was a fantastic effort from De Gea to save it, but the ball was just too well placed!

Back underway...

Lewandowski hits the penalty to the top right corner, De Gea gets a hand to it but he can't push it past the goal and the ball bounces into the net!

PENALTY TO BARCELONA!

Balde was brought down in the box by Bruno!

A cross came high over the defenders and landed with Balde, who spun away from Bruno but the Manchester United player grabbed his body and pulled him down.

Kounde wins the battle against Rashford as the Englishman again breaks into the Barça box. The danger signs are there.

Busquets makes a last-minute tackle on Rashford who plucked the ball out of the air and fired into the box with a dangerous run.

Roberto slides in an connects with Lisandro; Kessie had slipped him in down the right with another nice attack from the away side.

Sancho is not letting Busquets out of his sight so far. I don't think Doctors get as close to patients in major operations.

Casemiro deals with Raphinha's free-kick into the box.

Balde goes on an amazing run and is brought down by Fred, who trips him up in a dangerous area. 

Weghorst can't get to Bruno Fernandes' cross, but the ball ends up with Wan-Bissaka on the left, who plays a terrible cross with his weaker foot into the stand.

Free-kick to the home side on the right, quite close to the managers' technical area.

A vital interception from Balde stops Bruno from playing Fred in behind.

The Portuguese then gets tackled by the left-back, but stays on his feet. I didn't expect that. 

Varane does well to deal with a long ball from Raphinha that was aimed towards Lewandowski. A little shimmy of his shoulders sent the striker running one way while he went the other.

Rashford goes down on the edge of the box but the referee waves away the fall, to the dismay of the crowd.

Barça are struggling with the press from the home side, and they can't find ways to build up, with Busquets completely smothered by Sancho.

RAPHINHA HITS OVER!

The Brazilian hit a strong shot from the right side across goal but it flew over the bar.

HUGE SAVE FROM TER STEGEN

BRUNO WAS ALL ON HIS OWN

What a save!

Manchester United broke quickly and played the ball to Bruno Fernandes who was all on his own down the right wing. The Portuguese ran into the box and hit a low shot to Ter Stegen, which was well saved.

He's OK to continue (just about). 

Back underway.

Ouch! Koundé is down after being stomped on by Shaw. That looked terribly painful.

It's Sancho in the middle for Manchester United, with Fernandes on the right.

Manchester United immediately look for Weghorst, but Barça win the ball and look to build up from the back.

Off we go!

Rashford kicks us off from left to right...

Here are the teams again:

Manchester United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Fred, Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford, Weghorst

Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Balde, De Jong, Busquets, Kessie, Roberto, Raphinha, Lewandowski

Here they come!

They're now lined up on the pitch as we all listen to the delightful Europa League anthem...

Ready to go!

Both sets of players are lined up in the tunnel: Manchester United in their home kit (red shirts, white shorts, black socks) and Barcelona are in their all-gold away kit!

The warmups have concluded and the teams have headed down the tunnel for their final match preparations!

We've got 10 minutes to go!

15 minutes to go...

And the answer is...

Henrik Larsson!

He played 40 times for FC Barcelona, scoring 13 goals.

After that, he went to Helsingborgs IF in Sweden, before being sent on loan to Manchester United (7 games, 1 goal).

The Barça fans are in fine voice tonight!

Will they be cheering their qualification to the next round?

Quiz time!

Zlatan Ibrahimovic played for both Manchester United and Barcelona, but can you name the other Swedish striker to have played for both clubs?

(Hint: he moved to Barcelona from Celtic)

Answers to @English_AS on Twitter - you have 5 minutes!

Xavi pre-match interview:

Araujo's personal milestone...

And what a night to play your 100th game!

Raphinha's amazing performance at Camp Nou

Here are Rapha's numbers in the first leg against Manchester United, provided by Sofascore. He is going to be crucial if his side are to overcome the odds and get though the tie.

Who to watch: Raphinha

The winger has 5 goals for Barça since the restart after the World Cup, and was arguably their best player in the first leg against Manchester United.

His return to England might be even more important for Barcelona as they are without Pedri and Gavi, who are leaving huge gaps in their starting XI today. Raphinha should bring some of Gavi's fighting spirit to the pitch, especially since he was experience playing in England, having been a player for Leeds United for 2 seasons prior to his move to Barça.

Over 200 votes so far...

Almost 70% think it will be a home win!

Have your say @English_AS.

Manchester United's starting XI!

De Gea

Wan-Bissaka - Varane - Lisandro - Shaw

Casemiro - Fred

Sancho - Bruno Fernandes - Rashford

Weghorst

Barça's starting XI!

Ter Stegen

Koundé - Araujo - Christensen - Balde

Busquets - De Jong - Kessie

Raphinha - Lewandowski - S. Roberto

Garnacho's new look!

Garnacho's interesting new look, according to the Manchester United admin, makes him look like Eminem, although I'm not sure.

It's a bit more Justin Bieber than Slim Shady, right?

Pre-match stats:

- Manchester United have won one of their last 11 games against Barcelona (5D 5L)

- Barcelona are on an 18-game unbeaten streak, winning 16 of them; they have also won their last 9 away games in all competitions

- Marcus Rashford is averaging a goal every 76 minutes in the Europa League this season and 10 in his last 10 Premier League games

- Manchester United are unbeaten at home in 17 games

- Barcelona have only won once in their last 5 games at Old Trafford

Barça are on the way to Old Trafford!

Will they be able to pull of what would be a famous win on English soil?

SOCCER

Is ten Hag bringing back the “Man United Way”?

Here's a great video by Jen on whether or not ETG has brought back the so-called 'Manchester United way'.

Check it out!

The Barça fans have found the pub!

It's a lovely little pub down there, and away fans always make a huge noise in the garden!

Last time out:

The first leg at Camp Nou was a dramatic affair, with Marcus Rashford running riot after a bright start to the game from the home side, who went 1-0 up with a goal from Marcos Alonso. 

Manchester United quickly came back into the game, with two quick goals (Rashford and a Koundé own goal) gave the advantage to the English side.

But it was Raphinha and Lewandowski who would team up to give Barça a lifeline going into the second leg, as the cross from the ex-Leeds man was guided in by the shadow of the Polish striker, who got in the way to see the ball fly past Ter Stegen. 

Team news: FC Barcelona

The first huge loss for Barça is that Gavi is suspended for this game after receiving a stupid yellow card in the first leg.

The other big news is that Pedri won’t play either after going off early with a muscle strainand will miss up to a month of action.

Dembélé is the only other major absentee for Xavi's side. 

Team news: Manchester United

Martial is out injured, as is Donny van de Beek and Eriksen.

There are question marks over the fitness of Brazilian winger, Antony, as he continues his recoveries. Harry Maguire should be fit to be back in contention.

Hello!

Welcome to the absolutely massive game we’ve got tonight in the Champ… Europa League: Manchester United vs Barcelona!

Erik Ten Hag’s side got a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou and they will be looking to keep their positive season going, especially their recent run that has been epitomised by the new Marcus Rashford, who looks unstoppable. 

Barcelona, for their part, are top of LaLiga, which must be nice, but they’ll be without their two boys in midfield, which is a huge loss.