Yorke: United need a 'near-perfect' game
Dwight Yorke believes Manchester United need to produce a “near-perfect game” in order to progress past Barcelona in the Champions League.
The Reds’ next outing is the first leg of the quarter-final at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men looking to bounce back from the disappointing defeat to Wolves in the Premier League.
After coming up against Barcelona during the Treble season, when we were involved in two thrilling 3-3 draws, Yorke is convinced United can overcome the Catalan giants, despite the presence of Lionel Messi in their ranks.
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”I don’t think we can stop Messi,” he admitted. “I think that you have got to concentrate on your game. I think we have to play the most near-perfect game to overcome Barcelona.
“We know that Messi is arguably the world’s best footballer in our generation, and when you have that sort of mentality, it is always difficult. But I feel if we play the team collectively and we play to our potential, even with Messi’s greatness, I think we may just have the edge on them.
”We have to play as a team and we have to play to our full potential and, of course, you need a little bit of luck in those games to go your way and, if we can get that on the night, there is no reason why United cannot come out victorious in those two-legged games."
Yorke scored twice at the Nou Camp in November 1998 as the teams shared six goals, and also set up Andy Cole's strike, with a diving header from a David Beckham cross one of many times he combined with the right-sided midfielder throughout that memorable campaign.
"I would say that there was no other footballer in the world, even to this day, with a better delivery of a football than David Beckham," added the former Trinidad & Tobago international.
"For me, not the greatest footballer I have played with, but certainly he was a big part of my success in terms of the number of goals that I scored at United. He is a great footballer, a great ambassador and a great guy. More importantly, I had a real good time, real fun, playing with David Beckham."
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