Manchester United Will Play Barcelona
Manchester United got drawn with Barcelona! The Red Devils will be taking on Spanish champions, who are the only remaining La Liga club left in the competition. This will be a rematch of the two Champions League finals in 2009 and 2011. It was then that Barcelona won both times, first in Rome and then at Wembley two years later.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping to have more of the 1999 talk right, as there are already some similarities between that year and 2019. Man United also played Barcelona that season in the Champions League, knocking them out in the second group stage. Solskjaer played for United back then and maybe he will be the “lucky charm” once again.
First Leg Is At Old Trafford
Man United were first drawn to play at Nou Camp the first of the two legs, with the second one coming at Old Trafford. However, things changed post draw. Since Man United and Man City were both drawn to play their second legs at home, UEFA changed Man United’s tie to first play at home.
This was done in order to not have two matches in the single gameweek in the same city. It was Man United’s schedule that was changed due to them qualifying for Champions League from a lower position than Man City.
Potential Semifinal Opponents
Man United also found out who will be their potential semifinal opponents. They will first have to get rid of Barcelona and Lionel Messi, but if they get through they will play either Liverpool or Porto. The big rival from the Merseyside probably got the easiest draw of all clubs in the quarterfinal, as they already managed to beat Porto last season in round of 16, when the second leg match ended 5-0 for Liverpool – at Porto.
Solskjaer and his players could be motivated for the semifinals knowing they could meet against their biggest rival on the biggest stage. On the other hand of the draw are Tottenham playing Man City and the better team from those clashes will meet against either Ajax or Juventus in the remakes of Champions League finals of 1973 and 1996.
Man United Could Miss Out On Champions League Even If In Premier League’s Top 4
First thing you need to know here is – the chances for this are very slim! But it could still happen. Man United could finish fourth in the league and still play in Europa League next season. Too many things would need to coincide for that – Spurs would have to finish below fourth in the league AND win the Champions League, while the winner of Europa League would need to be an English club who would also finish below fourth place in the league.
That would mean that those two teams would go to Champions League next season with the top three teams from Premier League and the fourth team in the league would miss out. It is an understatement that the chances for this are slim.
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