Pogba: We can hurt Barcelona in the Nou Camp
Paul Pogba is convinced Manchester United can pull off another European miracle against Barcelona in the Nou Camp next Tuesday night.
The Reds go into next week’s quarter-final second leg in the Catalan capital 1-0 down after a winner officially recorded as a Luke Shaw own goal, when the United defender deflected a Luis Suarez header off his arm into the net in the 12th minute of the Old Trafford tie.
Yet United have pulled off some stunning Champions League wins away from home this season.
Last November, in Turin, we shocked Juventus in their own stadium by winning the group match 2-1. And, famously, last month, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side went to Paris to pull off a remarkable 3-1 win against PSG to progress to the last eight on away goals, having lost the Old Trafford leg 2-0.
Pogba says another chapter in United’s story of memorable comebacks cannot be ruled out.
“We saw a team we can beat,” said the United midfielder. “If you don’t believe that, then you just let them go through. We believe we can beat them. We are Manchester United, they are Barcelona but we are Manchester United and we play in the Champions League, like they do, and we can go through, of course.
“Obviously, you are playing against one of the best teams in the world but we gave them some problems. We know that we can hurt them.
“It is one leg gone and now we have to give everything in the second one," he added.
“Maybe the chances we might get, we have to put them in and be careful. They had chances and they could have scored another when David [De Gea] made a great save [from Philippe Coutinho after 36 minutes,] but, after that, they were not that dangerous.
“We have to avoid giving them chances in the Nou Camp and be killers in front of goal.
Highlights: United v Barcelona
Our Champions League quarter-final with Barcelona is finely poised, following the first leg at Old Trafford...
“We are 1-0 down but we believe chances will come over there. We have to keep believing. It is a Champions League game and we know we can hurt them, as well as they can hurt us.
“Probably Paris will be in their minds, for sure, because they saw what we can do against PSG. Obviously, they will be comfortable on their own pitch but let us see. We’ll see what happens at the end.”
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