Barcelona – Man U – 16 April 2019

Quarterfinals, part 2 of 2, between Barcelona and Manchester United. The return meeting is played at the Camp Nou where Barcelona has a big advantage, as they have a 1 – 0 result to play on. It was also an advantage for Barcelona in the eighth finals against Lyon, where Barcelona won the return meeting with a total of 5 – 1 at home. As Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s impact has died out in Manchester United, who has to chase a victory for advancement, it may well again be huge figures for a restored Barcelona squad.

Barcelona

Ernesto Valverde replaced all the players except the goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in the La Liga match away against Huesca, who ended up without a goal. It was a smart move, considering what grip Barcelona has on the league title. With 6 matches left, the Barcelona League leads with 9 points. With this, all the players have had five days of rest before the return meeting and come to the game loaded, tagged and ready to again give one hundred percent and win this match big.

Manchester United

For Manchester United, it’s not an equally rested squad. Given that the team is fighting for a Champions League place trying to become top four in the Premier League (with Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer chose to replace only 5 players from the first meeting against Barcelona. So there are a lot of tired legs going to Barcelona to try and succeed with an almost impossible mission. In our opinion, chances are great, as Manchester United must attack and score, that it will be a ketchup effect instead.

There will be huge spaces for Messi and Company, which they will use. One big break in the defense is that the back Luke Shaw has drawn three yellow cards and misses the return meeting. Furthermore, there are injuries to Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly, Alexis Sanchez, Matteo Darmian and Antonio Valencia. Of course, one of them may be able to come back and start or catch up, but it is still players without matches in the legs and without top form – which is required in Barcelona.

Recommendation

Given how difficult Manchester United had to score at home, it becomes even more difficult at Camp Nou. Keeping back tight is neither Manchester United nor good at, considering that they have conceeded goals now in their 9 (!) Latest matches. Manchester United come to the game from a 2 – 1 win at home against West Ham, where Pogba got two penalties. Otherwise no goals.

As Barcelona is one of the most formidable teams out in Europe, if not the best team of all at the moment, they will win this match and do so with message, much like they did last home against Lyon in the Champions League. The market offers just under 1.37 in winning odds. Thus, we place a bet on odds 1.90 that Barcelona wins with more than one goal margin.

The odds of 1.90 on Barcelona -1.5 goals (Asian handicap) in the match are available at NariaBET.

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Preliminary starting elves from Livescore.com – Barcelona:
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Nelson Semedo, Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Arthur Melo, Philippe Coutinho, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

Preliminary start-up from Livescore.com – Manchester United:
David De Gea, Ashley Young, Victor Lindelöf, Chris Smalling, Diogo Dalot, Fred, Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford.
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