Barcelona and Man United draw 2-2 in the Europa League

BARCELONA (AP) — Barcelona and Manchester United delivered a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Europa League playoffs on Thursday that eclipsed anything seen in the Champions League this week.

The two European giants reversed the disadvantages in a give-and-take second half in the first leg played at the Camp Nou stadium.

Barca struck first in the 50th minute with defender Marco Alonso’s header from a corner and equalized in the 76th minute when Raphinha’s cross from the right dug into the net without anyone touching the ball. United’s defense was distracted by Robert Lewandowski’s failed attempt.

Amidst this, Marcus Rashford has confirmed why Barca coach Xavi Hernández listed him in the preview as one of Europe’s most dangerous strikers.

“Rashford is sensational, Bruno sees the pass very well. They are very good”, underlined Xavi

“I prefer the character we showed at the end, which we sometimes lacked in Europe,” he added. “We will play him at Old Trafford.”

Rashford beat goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen at the near post with an almost angleless shot in the 52nd minute. He also created play for the visitors’ second goal seven minutes later.

After receiving the ball on the wing from a corner, Rashford dribbled towards the penalty area and fired a low shot which team-mate Bruno Fernandes managed to redirect. The ball bounced off defender Jules Koundé for the own goal.

“If you visit Spain’s number one and you are the dominant team, you can see that as a positive,” United manager Erik ten Hag said.

Red Devils keeper David de Gea kept the score level with several fine saves in the final minutes, although Ter Stegen made the best interventions in the first half to drown out Rashford and Wout Weghorst’s goal cry.

It will all come down to the second leg at Old Trafford next week, with the winner advancing to the knockout stages.

The azulgranas will face the revenge without Pedri González and Gavi, their young midfield duo. Pedri had to leave the pitch towards the end of the first half due to what was initially diagnosed as a rectus muscle injury in his right leg. Gavi will not be able to play due to card accumulation.

EUROPEAN LEAGUE

A duel between two former Champions League finalists was settled by captain Axel Dissai’s long-range shot in stoppage time as Monaco beat Bayern Leverkusen 3-2.

Juventus were limited to a 1-1 draw at Nantes after taking the lead after 13 minutes thanks to a Dusan Vlahovic goal.

Sevilla, the Europa League’s top winners with six titles, beat PSV Eindhoven 3-0. Argentinian Lucas Ocampos scored the second goal after 50 minutes.

Ajax drew 0-0 at home against Union Berlin. Sporting Lisbon used a goal from Uruguayan Sebastián Coates in added time to draw 1-1 against Midtjylland

Argentina midfielder Nicolás Capaldo’s 88th-minute header gave Austria’s Salzburg a 1-0 home win against Roma. The Italian side nearly equalized when Andrea Belotti’s header was deflected off the crossbar by goalkeeper Philipp Köhn.

In their first official game of 2023, in the midst of the winter break in the Ukrainian league, Shakhtar beat Rennes 2-1 in a “home” match played in the neutral city of Warsaw. Dmytro Kryskiv opened the scoring after 11 minutes and Artem Bondarenko scored the second penalty in the first half. Rennes closed the gap thanks to a goal from Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi.

Union Berlin, the surprising team fighting for the Bundesliga title, drew 0-0 at Ajax.

CONFERENCE LEAGUE

Fiorentina swept Portuguese Braga 4-0. Luka Jović and Arthur Cabral scored twice for the Italian club.

In other results, Trabzonspor beat Basel 1-0 at home; Qarabağ also won 1-0 in Ghent, and Bodø/Glimt and Lech Poznan drew 0-0 in Norway.