If there were any illusions, Manchester United now know far they must travel under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The gulf that exists between them, and the elite of the European game.
A panicked opening aside, this was as comfortable as the scoreline suggests, the game never in doubt after 20 minutes, Barcelona and Lionel Messi superior, the weakness in this United group heartlessly exposed. When Alexis Sanchez came on to a warm reception with 11 minutes to go, it was a reminder.
The player that United broke the bank to recruit is in essence a Barcelona cast-off. Those that are good enough to make it at Nou Camp will not be leaving for Old Trafford any time soon. Barcelona is the home of the best in a way Manchester United has not been for some time now.
Messi has not scored at the quarter-final stage of this competition since April 2013 against Paris St Germain – although he has had 50 shots – but he made up for it here.
As for Philippe Coutinho, any thoughts he may be have cause to regret his move from Liverpool, will be countered by nights like this – and the goal that gave the scoreline the emphasis it deserved.
Messi played a long crossfield ball from deep in his own half to Jordi Alba, who found Coutinho on the overlap inside. He cut towards the centre once more and struck a delighting curving shot, high and over the reach of David De Gea.
If Barcelona were disappointing at Old Trafford, this win and 4-0 aggregate outcome are a reminder of the standards they continue to set. Standards that United can only dream of reaching right now.
The problem for Manchester United was that everything was on their side but the one aspect that matters most: quality.
They had Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the wheel, they had their history at this great stadium and the night it gave them in 1999, they had the mythology that has built around their transformation this season, the comeback in Paris and the idea this could be their year, as it was for Chelsea and their unlikely steward, Roberto Di Matteo, in 2012.
One problem with that. They couldn’t live with Barcelona after a sprightly first two minutes. In that period United took their hosts by surprise, hit the bar and fumbled a second good opportunity. Had either of those chances gone in, who knows?
The fact is, they didn’t, and Barcelona are not the type of team to let mistakes in front of goal slide. Take yours because you sure as hell know they will take theirs. Well, enough of them, anyway. If Barcelona took every chance that came their way they would have goal difference in the hundreds each season.
So when Marcus Rashford broke through after just 35 seconds and, instead of a firm low finish, tried a hybrid chip, clipping the bar of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, there were immediate thoughts it could be a pivotal moment. So too the pass that found Scott McTominay in a ridiculous amount of space immediately after.
The ball got trapped under his feet and the danger passed; and with it, maybe, the hopes of Manchester United. When Barcelona first scored they could content themselves with the knowledge the mission hadn’t changed: they still needed to score twice to progress, as at the start.
The second, however, was a killer. Now United needed three in Nou Camp, against a team that had not surrendered a first leg lead at home in European competition since succumbing to Metz in the 1984-85 European Cup-Winners Cup. And there was nothing beyond that first two minutes that suggested they had it in them.
It wasn’t just the errors that lead to the goals that highlighted the difference here. In the ninth minute, United had the glimmer of a break on. The ball fell to Paul Pogba in the vicinity of the centre circle: and he shot at goal.
Would a Barcelona player have tried such a stunning piece of self-indulgence? The ball flew high and harmless, over the bar, ter Stegen’s recovery never in doubt. It wasn’t the action of a player thinking of his team – and Barcelona are, first and foremost, a team. A very, very good team.
With one quite extraordinary individual, obviously. Yet Lionel Messi never plays as if the event is about him, even if his genius often makes it so. He does not go it alone, if a team-mate is better placed, he doesn’t always occupy position A. And yet, operating a deep lying forward, he is averaging better than a goal a game this season. Incredible.
First, before the Messi show, United had to survive a penalty call. Fred got a foot in, and in doing so sent Ivan Rakitic rolling, rolling, rolling, like a ball on a downward slope at Augusta National.
By the time the Croatian came to rest referee Felix Brych was pointing to the spot. At which point VAR did its thing and Brych trotted over to see confirmation of his judgement. And a good thing he did.
The first replays the tackle looked good, in the second it looked like a foul, but a close up of Fred’s foot as he made his challenge showed he won the ball. No penalty. Justice done. Not that it mattered; within ten minutes United were 2-0 down.
The first goal started with Ashley Young getting in a tangle that served up the ball to Messi. The pair had shaken hands as respective captains before the game and one can only hope Young made the most of the benign nature of that moment. His other engagements with the player were more difficult, to say the least.
Messi beat Fred and glided past Phil Jones who, with his white plaster headband appeared to come pre-injured, probably to save time. He shaped to shoot and Chris Smalling put his arms behind his back to guard against handball.
He needn’t have bothered; Messi doesn’t hit it near enough to obstacles for that to be a problem. He curled it sweetly out of David De Gea’s reach. There was nothing the finest goalkeeper in the English game could do. Sadly, the same could not be said of the second goal.
The blame lies with De Gea but, for United, problems begin when Fred attempts a Cruyff turn perilously close to his own penalty area.
Frankly, Cruyff wouldn’t have attempted a Cruyff turn in that position – and he knew how to do them, too. So Fred lost the ball to Messi, who again left Jones in a different post code and hit the ball low.
It wasn’t his finest effort and should have been easily stopped but the often infallible De Gea made arguably his biggest error since his first season in English football. His weakness then was crosses and the physicality of the English, but no such excuses here.
This was a simple shot and the ball squirmed horribly underneath De Gea’s body. He reappeared after half-time to find Barcelona’s fan bowing down in mock admiration. Real Madrid will no doubt have been watching, too. A sobering night all round.
Source: MailOnline
