Man Utd vs Barcelona: Will Lionel Messi feel the weight of great expectations?

Ben Hayward9 April 2019

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has responded to Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s claims that stopping Lionel Messi is “not impossible” by saying that he expects a lot from the Argentine attacker in the teams’ Champions League quarter-final.

United host Barca at Old Trafford in the first leg on Wednesday night and in his pre-match press conference, Solskjaer said Messi would be “difficult to stop, but not impossible”.

Later on, Valverde spoke to the media and said: “You always think you can stop your rivals. Anyway, we expect a lot of Messi and he always appears.”

Messi has scored in two Champions League finals against United and will be key to the Catalans’ hopes of advancing to the last four of the competition.

Meanwhile, winger Ousmane Dembele is in training again after suffering injury at home to Lyon in the last 16, but the French forward looks unlikely to return tomorrow.

In pictures | Barcelona train ahead of first leg with Man Utd

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“I don’t know,” Valverde said when asked if he would be given the all clear by the medical staff. “We will look at him in training and will decide whether he can be with us.”

But he added: “It’s not the same situation as against Lyon. That was the second leg and this is the first. Taking the last game into account, we forced it and he got injured. I won’t take a risk if it means that can happen again.”

Valverde was also full of praise for Solskjaer’s impact at United.

“They have just knocked out PSG and that was an incredible achievement,” he said. “They are in a positive dynamic and they are a strong team when they press high and continuously.”

And on United’s struggles in recent seasons since the two Champions League finals against Barca in 2009 and 2011, he said: “Great teams have an aura about them and that is maintained over time. They may not have been in Champions League finals (recently), but now they are looking ahead.”

Asked about the danger of facing Solskjaer’s side, the Barca boss said: “They have players who can cause us problems. We have to avoid that. We don’t want to lose control of the game, to let them run a lot. Because with space, we could suffer.”

Nemanja Matic, Eric Bailly, Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia all missed training for United on Tuesday, but Valverde played down those absences.

“I don’t know if it will be a problem,” he said. “In Paris they had more players missing and they went through.”

Solskaer’s side did not play at the weekend, while Barca were in action at home to Atletico in a tough game in La Liga.

“They haven’t played since Tuesday,” Valverde said. “But all of us are used to tough calendars. We have had four days since Saturday, when we had a key game in La Liga, but having beaten Atleti compensates for the physical deficit we could have against them.”

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