Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with his arms crossed.

Four changes for United to take on Barca

Tuesday 16 April 2019 19:00

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made four changes to his side to take on Barcelona, from the one that beat West Ham United 2-1 at the weekend.

Among the men to return is Scott McTominay. The midfielder enjoyed a superb performance against Barcelona in the first leg last week and will once again be hoping to excel at the Nou Camp.
Ole has also made two changes at the back with Victor Lindelof and Ashley Young, who was suspended against West Ham, returning to the side in place of Diogo Dalot and Marcos Rojo.

With Luke Shaw banned for the second leg it appears Young could deputise on the left-hand side, while Phil Jones may operate at right-back.

That would mean a centre-back pairing of Chris Smalling and Lindelof, as it was in our famous victory against Paris Saint-Germain last month. Behind them, David De Gea will be the man between the sticks for the Reds.

The boss started with a back five at Old Trafford last week, but speaking to BT Sport ahead of the game he explained the switch to a traditional four-man defence.

"We picked a team that we think will solve most of the problems they can give us," said Ole. "We know that [Sergio] Roberto and [Jordi] Alba are going to come and [Lionel] Messi is going to be hard, but we can’t afford to have five at the back like we had last time.

"That was a bit cautious to stop Messi. He got one chance in the box and that was enough for them. Tonight we need more goals ourselves and we have to go for it."

In midfield, Fred and Paul Pogba will line-up alongside McTominay, just as they did in the home leg last week.

Ole’s fourth and final change of the night sees Marcus Rashford replace Romelu Lukaku.

It means United start with Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial in attack, a trio that masterminded our key win away to Tottenham Hotspur earlier this campaign.

There is also a notable inclusion on the bench with Alexis Sanchez returning to then squad for the first time in seven weeks.

The Chilean is back at his former club tonight, having previously spent three years at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur; Messi (c), Suarez, Coutinho.

Substitutes: Cillessen, Semedo, Umtiti, Malcom, Vidal, Alena, Dembele.

United: De Gea, Jones, Lindelof, Smalling, Young (c), Fred, McTominay, Pogba, Lingard, Rashford, Martial

Substitutes: Romero, Dalot, Andreas, Matic, Mata, Alexis, Lukaku.

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