Manchester United vs. Barcelona: Preview, Live Stream, TV Info for UCL Match
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will face his biggest trial as Manchester United manager when the Red Devils host Barcelona in their opening UEFA Champions Leagueย quarter-final leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
United have lost three times in their last four games and face a Barca side unbeaten in their previous 16 competitive outings (not including the Catalunya Super Cup defeat to Girona).
The English outfit have improved under Solskjaer's care but dropped back to sixth in the Premier League following their recent dip. Barca, meanwhile, lead La Liga by 11 points and are on the cusp of securing back-to-back titles for the first time since 2011.
A dramatic 3-1 win comeback at Paris Saint-Germain saw United through the last 16 on away goals, but they shouldn't be able to rely upon a similar second-leg turnaround at the Camp Nou if they fall at home.
Date:ย Wednesday, April 10
Time:ย 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET
Venue:ย Old Trafford, Manchester
Live Stream:ย B/R Liveย (U.S.),ย BT Sport appย (UK),ย Univision Deportes en Vivoย (U.S.),ย fuboTVย (U.S.)
TV Info:ย BT Sport 2 (UK), TNT USA (U.S.), Univision Deportes (U.S.)
Odds
Manchester United:ย 13-5
Draw:ย 13-5
Barcelona:ย 21-20
Via Oddschecker.com.
Preview
Barcelona travel to Old Trafford as the bookmakers' favourites despite the fact they've failed to win in four trips, losing twice (1984, 2008) and drawing twice (1994, 1998).
United legend Paul Scholes thundered in the only goal when the teams last met in Manchester 11 years ago, but their last clash was a convincing 3-1 triumph in Barca's favour at Wembley Stadium in the 2011 final:
That was the last season in which United made it past the quarter-finals of this competition, and Solskjaer could be found out of his depth after the initial shine of his appointment appears to have dulled slightly. A win on Wednesday would swiftly put some of those doubts to bed.
It was the Norwegian's goal at the Camp Nou against Bayern Munich that clinched the Champions League in 1999.
With that comeback in mind, Solskjaer has urged his players to summon that same spirit in attempting to topple arguably the best team in the world, per ITV:
The fact United are priced 13-5 at home indicates the standing that Ernesto Valverde's Barca have in European football.
Valverde's men will try to boss possession, so it's likely United will need to play on the break.
Barca are unbeaten in 16 matches, but their recent 4-4 draw Villarrealโwhere they trailed 4-2 heading in the closing minutesโshowed there are chinks in the armour to be exposed. It's worth noting Valverde started that game with a much-changed team, however.
One of those who didn't start at the Estadio de la Ceramica was Lionel Messi, whose figures this season once again look remarkable:
He came on in that match to score before aiding Luis Suarez in converting the 4-4 equaliser. The same pair scored in a 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
