Barcelona were fortunate not to lose a key player early on
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Barcelona should have been reduced to ten men on Wednesday night as Sergio Busquets evaded a booking for his first foul of the game, when he arrived late on man of the match Scott McTominay.
Manchester United lost the first leg of their quarter-final against Barcelona, with the only goal of the game going in off Luke Shaw’s shoulder after Luis Suarez headed the ball back across goal from a Lionel Messi cross.
United now have a big challenge ahead at the Camp Nou, a challenge which might not be so daunting if Barcelona were without their most influential midfielder, as Solskjaer believes they should be.
The Norwegian had warned his players to be wary of ‘streetwise’ tactics that the likes of Busquets would deploy, and believes he should have been given his marching orders for two fouls in the first half. The second foul, on Paul Pogba, got the Spaniard cautioned, but the first went unpunished.
“It’s just that consistency,” Solskjaer said. “There’s nothing we can do about it. I can’t complain about the referee.
“We haven’t had any ‘homers’, you might call it. We can’t complain. We are where we are.
“He will play against us over there. We have to go there with the same belief and same energy.”
While United will go into the second leg with a one goal deficit, Solskjaer said their comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the last round has given his players the confidence that they can pull off an even more impressive turnaround in Spain.
“The PSG performance away gives us hope and belief we can do it but we are playing against probably the favourites in the tournament,” he said.
“Going to the Nou Camp will be a challenge. It will be a greater achievement, winning that one, because of the history of Barcelona.
“They’re not used to losing at home. We can do it, no doubt. We know we carry a goal threat.”
