Barcelona 2-2 Manchester United: Rashford heroics not enough as Raphinha snatches first-leg draw

In-form
Rashford
scored
his
22nd
goal
of
the
season
–
matching
his
best
tally
for
a
single
campaign
–
to
cancel
out
Marcos
Alonso’s
opener
in
Thursday’s
thrilling
clash
at
Camp
Nou.

United
were
ahead
nine
minutes
after
falling
behind
thanks
to
more
good
work
from
Rashford,
whose
quick
thinking
from
a
short
corner
culminated
in
Jules
Kounde
putting
into
his
own
net.

But
Barca,
who
lost
influential
midfielder
Pedri
to
a
first-half
injury,
hit
back
against
the
run
of
play
in
the
76th
minute
when
Raphinha’s
cross
went
right
the
way
through
to
keep
things
finely
poised
ahead
of
next
week’s
return
leg.

After
a
breathless
second
half,
it
finishes
all
square
????#MUFC
||

#UEL

—
Manchester
United
(@ManUtd)

February
16,
2023

Wout
Weghorst
was
played
clean
through
by
Bruno
Fernandes
in
the
first
big
opening
of
the
game
but
was
denied
by
Marc-Andre
ter
Stegen,
who
was
also
equal
to
Casemiro’s
header.

Ter
Stegen
produced
another
fine
stop
to
keep
out
Rashford,
while
David
de
Gea
got
a
strong
hand
to
Jordi
Alba’s
effort
after
Aaron
Wan-Bissaka
was
caught
dawdling.

Alonso
opened
the
scoring
four
minutes
into
the
second
half,
losing
his
marker
and
heading
in
Raphinha’s
corner,
but
the
visitors
swiftly
levelled.

Fred
surged
forward
and
played
in
Rashford,
who
blasted
past
Ter
Stegen
at
his
near
post
to
keep
his
hot
streak
going.

Rashford
was
key
again
just
before
the
hour,
driving
into
the
box
and
delivering
a
cross
that
went
in
off
Kounde
after
Fernandes
flicked
it
on.

United
looked
good
value
for
another
goal
but
were
instead
pegged
back
soon
after
–
Raphinha’s
right-sided
cross
evading
Robert
Lewandowski
and
nutmegging
Raphael
Varane
before
nestling
in
the
bottom-left
corner.

Barca
went
particularly
close
to
finding
a
late
winner
as
Casemiro
hit
his
own
post
amid
a
scramble,
before
De
Gea
superbly
denied
Ansu
Fati
in
a
gripping
conclusion
that
also
saw
the
hosts
have
a
penalty
appeal
rejected
for
a
possible
handball
against
Fred.

What
does
it
mean?
United
frustrated
despite
fine
performance

This
is
a
tie
we
are
more
accustomed
to
seeing
in
the
Champions
League
–
indeed,
they
met
in
the
final
of
that
competition
in
2009
and
2011
–
but
this
is
the
new
reality
for
both,
as
United
boss
Erik
ten
Hag
put
it
ahead
of
the
game.

It
more
than
lived
up
to
its
blockbuster
billing,
with
the
sides
managing
a
whopping
18
attempts
each,
eight
of
which
were
on
target
from
Barca
and
five
from
United.

Barca’s
eight-game
winning
run
may
have
come
to
an
end,
but
they
will
arguably
be
the
happier
of
the
two
sides,
as
reflected
by
their
expected
goals
(xG)
figure
of
1.3
compared
to
United’s
2.1.

Rampant
Rashford
at
it
again

Rashford’s
14
goals
in
all
competitions
since
club
football
resumed
following
the
World
Cup
break
is
at
least
four
more
than
any
other
player
across
Europe’s
top
five
leagues
(Karim
Benzema
has
10).

The
England
international
truly
is
in
the
form
of
his
life,
having
already
matched
his
career-high
tally
from
the
2019-20
campaign.
Not
only
did
he
find
the
net,
he
also
effectively
set
up
United’s
second,
though
it
ultimately
was
not
enough.

Lewy
fires
another
blank

Lewandowski
entered
this
game
with
45
goals
from
his
past
37
European
games,
but
this
was
an
off
day
for
the
usually
prolific
Poland
international.

He
only
managed
two
attempts
in
a
game
that
saw
a
total
of
36
at
both
ends
and
only
one
of
his
was
on
target,
with
De
Gea
keeping
it
out
before
the
second-half
madness
ensued,
and
he
has
now
gone
three
matches
without
a
goal
for
Barca.

Key
Opta
facts

–
Manchester
United
have
scored
in
each
of
their
last
19
away
games
in
all
European
competition
(36
goals
in
total),
since
a
0-0
draw
at
AZ
in
October
2019.

–
Barcelona
have
conceded
nine
goals
in
five
home
games
in
European
and
cup
competition
this
season,
compared
to
just
one
goal
in
10
LaLiga
matches
at
Camp
Nou.

–
Barcelona’s
Raphinha
has
been
involved
in
five
goals
in
his
four
appearances
against
Manchester
United
in
all
competitions,
scoring
two
and
assisting
three.

–
This
was
the
fourth
time
Raphinha
has
both
scored
and
assisted
in
a
match
for
Barcelona
this
season,
more
than
any
other
LaLiga
player
in
all
competitions.

–
Barcelona
are
unbeaten
in
all
six
of
their
home
games
against
Manchester
United
(W3
D3),
with
these
matches
seeing
an
average
of
3.2
goals
per
game
(19
–
14
for
Barcelona,
5
for
Man
Utd).

What’s
next?

Before
reconvening
at
Old
Trafford
in
a
week’s
time,
both
teams
switch
focus
back
to
league
matters
on
Sunday
(February
19)
as
Barca
host
Cadiz
and
United
take
on
Leicester
City.