Rohan Sengupta
Lionel Messi’s first-half double inspired Barcelona into their first Champions League semi-final since 2015 as Manchester United were knocked out of Europe after a 3-0 loss at the Nou Camp and a 4-0 loss on aggregate.
Two costly mistakes resulted in our downfall. Ashley Young made matters worse for himself and his mistake saw Messi open the scoring for Barcelona. A mistake which saw David de Gea let the ball slip beneath his body to give the diminutive Argentine his second.
Then, in the second half, Philippe Coutinho put the final nail in the coffin by scoring an absolute cracker from outside of the box.
Manchester United Player Ratings
David De Gea- 3/10
His mistake gave Messi his second and by the time he denied Sergi Roberto, the game had already been killed. Very poor from arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
Phil Jones- 4/10
Jones endured a tough night, with Messi making a mockery of him during one Barcelona move.
Chris Smalling- 4/10
Gave acres of space to Messi for the first goal. Just like Jones, Smalling also had a terrible night.
Victor Lindelof- 4/10
Lindelof was switched to right-back to accommodate Jones but the Swede neither offered defensive solidity nor attacking flair.
Ashley Young- 1/10
It was his mistake that led to United’s downfall. Riddled with errors throughout the game, Young proved why we are in dire need of a right-back. Shocking!
Scott McTominay- 5/10
Had to chance to level the tie but he failed. Showed great energy and desire to compete with the Barcelona players but often emerged out second best.
Fred- 4/10
Made an encouraging start to the game but his confidence went all low after Barcelona’s first goal. Worked very hard for our team but with limited outcome.
Paul Pogba- 3/10
Started brightly and played Rashford through to hit the crossbar inside the first minute. But he faded very quickly and rarely made an impact in the game.
Jesse Lingard- 3/10
Showed good energy and link up play in the opening minutes of the game but faded as soon as Barcelona opened the scoring.
Anthony Martial- 3/10
Martial looked lively in the opening stages of the game as he tried pinning Roberto back every time he got the ball. Didn’t do much after we went behind.
Marcus Rashford- 4/10
Squandered two golden chances at 0-0 and those misses from Rashford came back to haunt us.
Substitutes
Diogo Dalot- 3/10
Should have had an assist had Ter Stegen not kept out Sanchez’s header.
Romelu Lukaku- 3/10
Tried to make a difference but couldn’t.
Read more: Man United enter race to sign 22-year-old Brazilian hotshot starring for current club
Alexis Sanchez- 3/10
Nearly scored from Dalot’s cross.
Extremely disappointed with the team’s performance, here’s how some of our fans reacted on Twitter.
TOTAL OVERHAUL REQUIRED.
I MEAN TOTAL OVERHAUL.The difference is quality is simply unreal
— Vishnu (@Vishnu29517444) April 16, 2019
Jones tried, Pogba was useless.
— sol patrick (@soloakon) April 16, 2019
Pogba is the laziest player I’ve ever watched. His heads already elsewhere.
— ItzRyda (@ItzRydaa) April 16, 2019
Ashley Young looks more #DANGEROUS than Messi against Man Utd..
— Kwesi Poku (@Ernie4all) April 16, 2019
— Harry ❁ (@hapotter) April 16, 2019
Sanchez performance was the only positive one
— Chirag Shah (@CurlingFreeKick) April 16, 2019
Ole Out
— Tony Martial💭 (@AntonMartial) April 16, 2019
Get Ashley Young out of my club btw.
— Waz 🏁 (@wazzz_r) April 16, 2019
Young as our club captain is a joke.
— M.Hamza (@mo_hxmza) April 16, 2019
