Lionel Messi first felt the thud of Chris Smalling’s shoulder into his back. Then the Manchester United defender’s flailing right arm swiped across Messi’s face and blood poured from the Barcelona forward’s nose.
Already trailing against a dominating Barcelona side, United on Wednesday had to resort to physicality after 30 minutes to try to thwart the five-time European champions.
It helped prevent any further damage to the scoreline, as Barcelona won the first leg of their quarter-final 1-0 after United defender Luke Shaw unwittingly helped Luis Suarez’s header into the net in the 12th minute.
Photo: Reuters
An equalizer never looked likely, with United failing to register a shot on goal in a Champions League game at Old Trafford for the first time since 2005.
Barcelona’s goal — initially flagged for offside before being awarded via a video review — came during an exhilarating spell when the visitors’ possession exceeded 80 percent.
“It was a great header from Luis,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. “He was fighting for every cause. He was getting stuck into the defenders, trying to work really hard.”
However, as Barcelona became sloppy and error-strewn, the early passing rhythm faded.
“We lost the ball in our own half a few times too often,” Barcelona defender Nelson Semedo said. “But shutting down those errors gave us this big victory.”
While the Spanish champions ended a six-game winless run on the road in European knockout games stretching back to 2016, this quarter-final is very much still in play heading into the second leg on Tuesday next week.
United only fleetingly imposed themselves on Barcelona, but did so with force when Smalling escaped punishment for the foul that left Messi needing to clean up the blood on the touchline.
“This was a tough, complicated contest,” Valverde said. “We dominated in spells, but their pressure was high and difficult to break.”
The closest Messi came to his first goal at Old Trafford was in the 83rd minute, when the sting was taken out of a low free-kick and it was easily gathered by David de Gea.
United already came back from a heavier first-leg deficit to reach this stage, losing 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in the round-of-16 before winning 3-1 last month to help Solskjaer secure the manager’s job.
“The PSG performance away gives us hope and belief we can do it,” Solskjaer said after United’s fourth loss in five games. “But we know we are playing against probably the favorites in the tournament.”
Now United will have to be the first team to win at Barcelona in 30 matches stretching back to 2013 if they are to advance to the semi-finals.
The teams are to have contrasting preparations for the second leg, when Shaw is to be suspended after being booked for tugging at Messi.
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