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Manchester United came from behind to take the lead before drawing in a 2-2 affair against Barcelona.
The two European sides met in a play-off round of the Europa League after the Red Devils failed to top their group and the Blaugrana were knocked out of the Champions League.
United’s two goals were grabbed by Marcus Rashford and an own goal from Barca defender Jules Kounde.
Xavi’s men ensured the spoils were shared between the two sides through goals from Marcos Alonso and Raphinha.
Despite the tie still being wide open with all to play for at Old Trafford, Ten Hag made no secret of his disappointment with his players’ failure to convert their chances.
Ten Hag credited the team for fashioning multiple opportunities but insisted that more should have been done to find the back of the net.
He said, “The criticism is: be more clinical, finish chances. In such a game, we created many chances, you can’t expect that but we did.”
“It’s a little bit of disappointment we didn’t score more. We should have scored a minimum of four goals tonight.”
Ten Hag: “The criticism is: be more clinical, finish chances. In such a game, we created many chances, you can’t expect that but we did. And it’s a little bit of disappointment we didn’t score more. We should have scored a minimum of four goals tonight.”
— utdreport (@utdreport) February 16, 2023
Central to United’s attacking ventures as is often the case was Bruno Fernandes.
The United skipper registered a pass accuracy of 83%.
Fernandes had 50 touches of the ball to his name.
The United playmaker won five ground duels in what was also a superb show of defensive brilliance from him.
Fernandes made four crucial clearances.
Creatively, Fernandes made two key passes and created one big chance that should have been finished in the first few minutes of the game.
Bruno Fernandes’ game by numbers vs. Barcelona:
83% pass accuracy
50 touches
5 ground duels won
4 clearnaces
2 key passes
1 big chance createdCreative as ever. 🎨 pic.twitter.com/X0vcwpQNtZ
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 16, 2023
There is no doubt that United’s magnifico is slowly getting back to his best.
