Barcelona has introduced their visiting squad to face Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League area-very last first leg at Old Trafford.
The Spanish giants will fly to England on Tuesday, and head coach Ernesto Valverde will preserve his press convention alongside a player at the Theatre of Dreams from 17:00 BST. Our illustrious traffic will then teach at the pitch, underneath the floodlights, in front of the European soccer media.
On the professional Barcelona website, their 22-man squad is indexed as follows: Ter Stegen, N. Semedo, Pique, I. Rakitic, Sergio, Todibo, Coutinho, Arthur, Suarez, Messi, O. Dembele, Cillessen, Malcolm, Lenglet, Murillo, Jordi Alba, Prince Boateng, S. Roberto, Vidal, Umtiti, Alena, Inaki Pena.
Our quarter-very last opponents could be without former Arsenal defender and Belgium international Thomas Vermaelen, who is out due to soreness in his left leg.
Ousmane Dembele has been named within the squad. However, according to an assertion on Barcelona’s official website, he no longer has clinical clearance to play.
Jean-Clair Todibo is journeying with the crew, notwithstanding not being registered for the Champions League.
Barcelona organized for their trip to Old Trafford by recording a crucial 2-zero victory over Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Saturday evening, thanks to dreams from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. Solskjaer and first-team instruct Mike Phelan have been both within the crowd to look at the game and take notes.
After the win, head coach Valverde praised United and admitted he is wary of facing the Reds at Old Trafford. “They are an effective group,“ he advised newshounds at the Nou Camp. “They are going via a good run; even if they lost, they’re closing healthy.
“Physically, they’re really sturdy and that they realize how to put pressure on their fighters. They have players who are bodily very effective, and that they may be risky strategically as nicely. “This fit is a classic in European soccer. Barcelona has never received at Old Trafford, I consider, and we are going to attempt to trade that.”
In opposition to Barcelona, our final aggressive shape was the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, whilst the Spanish membership secured a frustratingly dominant 3-1 win to assert their trophy.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Wayne Rooney, and Michael Carrick all spoke glowingly approximately Barcelona within the aftermath, paying tribute to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering facet that was nearly not possible to overcome.
Sergio Busquets is certainly one of 3 gamers inside the modern-day Barcelona squad who performed that evening – along with Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi – and the Spanish midfielder has this week admitted that it was a humbling enjoy to receive such wearing reward from United’s key figures at that time.
“Beyond the manner, we loved it on the pitch, that popularity from combatants – and we’re speakme about essential humans – leaves you are feeling pride and gratitude,” he instructed The Guardian.
“Sometimes you could be frustrated whilst the combatants are a lot higher; however, as an alternative, they stated such things as that. It’s the highest reward. We harm them a lot by retaining the ball; they spent a lot of time jogging after it. That turned into the great performance of Pep’s technology, wherein our fulfillment, our superiority, turned into maximum overwhelming – an illustration of how we desired to play.”
Busquets is anticipated to begin at Old Trafford on Wednesday, and he has masses of appreciation for the Reds. “United are higher underneath Solskjaer,“ the Barcelona superstar stated. ”They don’t thoughts letting you’ve got the ball.
“Their warring parties are probably better technically; however, as we noticed with PSG, they counter-assault well and that they’re correct at set-pieces. ”If you are making any errors, they’ll take advantage.”
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