Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned his Manchester United players to beware of Barcelona's 'tricks' when the two clubs clash in the Champions League quarter-finals at Old Trafford.
United host Barca in the first leg on Wednesday night and Solskjaer is concerned that his side – and Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi – are not duped into giving away cheap free-kicks and yellow cards that could prove costly.
Solskjaer has told his players to learn from the first leg of their last 16 tie at home to PSG when he felt United were over-confident and careless, leading to a 2-0 defeat that was then overturned by a stunning comeback in Paris.
'Confidence is high,' said Solskjaer. 'The result of what we did against PSG and how we climbed the table and clawing back points, the players have given themselves and supporters great belief we can do this.
'I can feel the tension, excitement, in training today and yesterday the players wanting to play. The mood before the PSG home game was a little bit different but we've learnt from that game.
'The players have talked about it, how we got dragged into making fouls. You've got to be more patient in tackles. Some of these players will have some tricks up their sleeves. There are some streetwise players.
'Suarez and Coutinho and Messi will keep our defenders on our toes so let's see how we manage tomorrow.'
In particular, Solskjaer is worried about Messi's threat if United concede free-kicks around their own penalty box.
'How many goals has Messi scored from free-kicks outside the box?' said the United boss. 'We weren't lucky with the referee against PSG where they should have had a man sent off, so we hope for some luck there as well.
'What kind of plan can you have to stop one of the best players in the world? We've played against Juventus and (Cristiano) Ronaldo, PSG and (Kylian) Mbappe, Chelsea and (Eden) Hazard.
'He (Messi) a fantastic player and will go down in the history as one of the best individual players ever. He will be difficult to stop but never impossible. It's not like it's Messi against Man United. It's Suarez, Coutinho, Rakitic, Vidal. We cannot just focus on one player, we have to focus against 11 of them.'
gamemasterutd
566
Manchester United needs to show a good performance to expect the least. No one is expecting to beat Messi and Co. but atleast we need to see a good game with passion, desire and intent to win. Also for all Barcelona fans who are behaving that they have already won the tie, never write off united until the game is over. Expecting a great game tomorrow. Cheers 🙏
Rashniccr7
374
Ole is already putting fear on his mind and he might transfer it to his boys.
Ashimisbarcafan
362
Difficult to stop messi means you will definitely lose
elAbdullah
292
Messi will be quick to change Young(s) name to old[Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
oheneantwib
258
I am not surprised when English coaches speak this way. I quiet remember Gary Naville being a football pundit saying that he doesn't understand why "teams concede more than 5 goals against Barcelona. " We all know what happened to him.
Stanstanfords7
213
His worry shouldn't be Messi's free kick brilliance, if a coach worries about this then he's doubting his number 1. David De Gea is one of the best goal keepers in the world, Messi is dangerous but I don't think De Gea will allow to be beaten easily. Soskjear's worry should be Pogba and his form lately, he needs to put his heart into this game and be the balance the team needs. It's hard but not impossible
Yipbcirsy
195
if Barcelona players bass the diffenders there is De Gea
Chima92
150
Man Utd's key factor against beating Barca is Confidence n aggression. anything short of that will be chaotic! May the better team win!
FaithEvans
89
I remembered the last time Messi faced a team from Manchester, he turned Stones into bread and made them lie down in green pastures... after this game against United, Young will become Old, Smalling will become Fingerling
yinakopt
72
yinakopt
62
nazmullovemessi
52
if man u can stop messi to score, then how they will stop messi to assist!? hope tomorrow ones Again all messi hatters will get the answer, that' how messi will perform in EPL Against big team! i wanna see man u pressing high & quick counter attacks, can't wait for the match! messi(GOAT)Welcome to old Trafford..!
getup_its5am
49
If I were Smalling, I'd have just said "He is certainly the best in the world, but I'll try my best to help my team win the game." That's how you give respect to the best in the world and as well trust yourself to come up big, instead of saying "Bring it on". Messi floored prime Boateng with a regular skill move. Who tf does this guy think he is?
josephrasser
36
the game is to win and not to stop a single player, only if they are calm and show confidence in the field of play only then can they(man Utd) get good result I wish both teams a good game