UEFA Champions League 2018/19: Man Utd vs Barcelona First XIs, Stats Breakdown
Manchester United and FC Barcelona are set to face off in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, in what promises to be a mouth-watering encounter. Ernesto Valverde's all-conquering Barcelona have been in imperious form and are runaway leaders of the Spanish LaLiga. They are on course for a second consecutive domestic double, having already reached the final of the Copa Del Rey (Spanish Cup), where they are set to face off against Valencia. Lionel Messi has been his usual devastating self, racking up 36 goals and 15 assists in all competitions and currently leads the European Golden Boot standings.
Manchester United have been a different animal since the arrival of caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with his style of hard pressing and rapid counter-attacks, bringing back the joy and verve to Old Trafford after the dismal Jose Mourinho era. Solskjaer turned back the years, reminding us of the Manchester United of legend, overcoming Paris Saint Germain in a scintillating UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.
United enthralled their fans by overturning a 2-0 first leg deficit to win 3-3 on aggregate (on away goals). Under the Norweign, United have won 14 out of 18 games played and are within shouting distance of a Champions League Qualification spot in the EPL standings. The players have responded positively to the new manager, with Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku hitting peak form.
Much debate is ongoing about the match, as to which side is superior, with both sets of fans keen to one-up each other. so let us see what the stats say. We have statistically compared and analysed the Manchester United and Barcelona Starting XI players, taking into account their league and UCL performances. Starting XI players were arrived at by looking at no. of starts statistic.
All stats are retrieved from Whoscored.com as of 15-03-2018.