Manchester United will face off against Barcelona in a highly-anticipated UEFA Europa League knockout round playoff second-leg contest at the iconic Old Trafford stadium on Thursday night.
Last Thursday, the first leg between the English and Spanish sides ended in a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou.
Both sides have seemed in good shape in their respective leagues lately, as Barca stands at the top of La Liga standings after their 2-0 victory against Cadiz, while the Red Devils climbed to the No. 3 spot in the Premier League after their 3-0 win over Leicester City.
"Yes, we should have won (the first leg), but we have steps to go," Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag said. "We have two good teams at the highest level; it was a really high performance level and I was really pleased with the performance from my team."
Former Barcelona legend Xavi, now the Spanish side's head coach, praised the opposition's counter-attacking play.
"They play marvelous counter-attacking football, Rashford getting in behind, Bruno (Fernandes) finding long passes," Xavi said. "We wanted to mature the match (in the first leg), calm things down from the constant end to end, but United are very good at playing how they want to."
Manchester side midfielders Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek will be unavailable in the upcoming Europa League game due to injuries. Brazilian winger Anthony and French attacker Anthony Martial’s inclusion in the Barcelona game squad is also doubtful.
Due to injuries, Spanish Midfielder Pedri and French winger Ousmane Dembele will also be unavailable for the Barca game squad.
